


erised °» yandere hp

by NicYandere



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Child Neglect, Dark, Dark Harry Potter, Female Reader, Forced Marriage, Forced Relationship, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Isekai, Love, Magic, Multi, NicYandere, Obsession, Reader-Insert, Romance, Yandere, Yandere Harry Potter, Yandere Various, another world - Freeform, genderneutral reader, male reader - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-20
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:40:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 21
Words: 221,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26008903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NicYandere/pseuds/NicYandere
Summary: ❝you don't seem to understand your position here, (y/n); i have full control of everything and that includes you.❞»»-----　♡　-----««(Y/N) (L/N) lives in an excruciatingly boring life, where everything that revolves around their life is normal. The only thing that got them back up on their feet was the existence of Harry Potter, and their immersion and obsession for the fictional world.Their wish to exist within the fantasy world was heard by an unknown figure within their dreams, and thus, the figure wanted to make their wish come true, but with a terrible price;(Y/N) will be cursed with a power that will let others attract and become obsessed with them, replicating their love and obsession to the fictional world's characters, by doing something as a trigger.If they fail to do so by the end of their first year, they will die within the dream and in reality.Though granted with such curse, (Y/N) accepted to escape the life that they were living in before.But, it won't be long until they try to escape their awakening nightmare—● this story is also in wattpad and quotev. consider reading it in either of them as i am more active in wattpad/quotev than in ao3
Relationships: Blaise Zabini/Reader, Cedric Diggory/Reader, Draco Malfoy/Reader, Dudley Dursley/Reader, Fleur Delacour/Reader, Fred Weasley/Reader, George Weasley/Reader, Ginny Weasley/Reader, Harry Potter/Reader, Hermione Granger/Reader, Neville Longbottom/Reader, Pansy Parkinson/Reader, Rolf Scamander/Reader, Ron Weasley/Reader, Tom Riddle | Voldemort/Reader, Viktor Krum/Reader
Comments: 19
Kudos: 96





	1. 「Before It Begins」

**Author's Note:**

> IMPORTANT:  
> Please always remember that this a YANDERE FANFICTION; I do not condone or consent ANYONE to do this to other people. This is an ABUSIVE, TOXIC and MANIPULATIVE relationship, and should not be romanticized or glorified.
> 
> This fanfiction is for ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY, and hopefully to let you know that this kind of behavior SHOULD NOT be allowed.
> 
> If you, or anyone you know is suffering from this kind of person, please SEEK HELP or STAY AWAY from that person.

_**❝Will this wounded love of mine ever come to bear any fruit?❞** _

* * *

**_｡↷ ✧₊˚‧☆ﾐ SYNOPSIS¡ •ଓ.°_ **

_┊(y/n) (l/n) is an average young adult, that's no older than 18, living in a bustling modern city where they had buried their old childhood memories and learned to live in a normal yet uninteresting and boring life._

_the only thing that gave them enthusiasm and something to look forward to everyday was the existence of harry potter. their wish of wanting to live in a fantasy and magical world of harry potter was heard by an unknown dream figure, giving (y/n) a chance to escape their bleak reality but with a dangerous price;_

_they will be cursed with the power of obsession, making people attract to (y/n) by doing something as a trigger to their love._

_as they accepted, multiple mysteries and discoveries are being thrown at (y/n), making them question the replicated dream world of harry potter that the figure had thrown them into._

_this might be a dream come true for (y/n) for a short while but they will soon know that tweaking someone else's obsession will be their downfall,_

_and turn their so-called dream into a frightening nightmare._

_﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀_  
**_｡↷ ✧₊˚‧☆ﾐ THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW¡ •ଓ.°_ **

_┊i. the **reader** or **(y/n)** is **gender neutral** which means, I will be using " **them** " and " **they** " pronouns._

_┊ii. some things from the original harry potter story will be **changed** in order for the story in this fan fiction to be plausible._

_┊iii. this story contains **abuse** , **sexual harassment** and **murder**. if you are uncomfortable or sensitive to these topics, it's recommended for you to **not** read this story. your discretion is advised._

_┊iv. please remember that this fan fiction is **not** meant to **romanticize** or **glorify** the toxic behaviors/relationships of a yandere. this is only meant to give entertainment and, hopefully, make you know that this behavior should **not** be encouraged. if you, or someone who you know is being a victim to this kind of person, **please seek help** or **stay away** from that person._

_┊v. not **all** characters will be turned into a yandere. writing over 50 yandere characters will surely mess the story up and is actually quite exaggerated and ridiculous to an extent._

_﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀_  
**_｡↷ ✧₊˚‧☆ﾐ KEYWORDS¡ •ଓ.°_ **

_┊i. **(y/n)** \- your first name. you can use your real first name or your fictional first name._

_┊ii. **(l/n)** \- your last name. you can use your real last name or your fictional last name._

_┊iii. **(f/c)** \- favorite color. i won't be using this keyword as much but i'll still use this when i can't think of any other colors for your things like quill, books, etc._

_┊iv. **(color)** \- just pick any random color._

_┊v. **(h/c)** \- hair color. choose any hair color that you want to use but keep it sensible. no one will take you seriously if you have rainbow hair, let's be honest._

_┊vi. **(h/l)** \- hair length. might not use it often like (f/c). just don't make your hair as long as rapunzel's; you wouldn't like it if people will be stepping on your hair all the time._

_┊viii. **(length)** \- any random length. might not use it often._

_┊ix. **(e/c)** \- eye color. you can choose any eye colors or make your eyes heterochromatic (have two different eye colors) as long as it's sensible._

_┊x. **(skin tone)** \- pick any skin tone that you want to use. might not use it often._

_﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀_  
**_｡↷ ✧₊˚‧☆ﾐ ETYMOLOGY AND DEFINITION¡ •ଓ.°_ **

_┊ **yandere (ヤンデレ)** \- a portmanteau of 病んでる (yanderu), contraction of 病んでいる (yandeiru), progressive tense of 病む (yamu, "to be sick"), and デレデレ (dere-dere, "to become lovey-dovey, infatuated, lovestruck")._

_┊ **yandere (ヤンデレ)** \- defined as strongly and deeply exhausted, infatuated, moonstruck, head-over-heels, or lovestruck, but in this case used for "lovestruck."_

_﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀_  
**_｡↷ ✧₊˚‧☆ﾐ PLAYLIST¡ •ଓ.°_ **

**_[ normal ]_ **  
_┊i. **twenty one pilots** \- heathens_  
_┊iii. **melanie martinez** \- pacify her_  
_┊iv. **zedd, elley duhe** \- happy now_  
_┊v. **zedd, katy perry** \- 365_  
_┊vi. **joji** \- slow dancing in the dark_  
_┊vii. **post malone** \- circles_  
_┊viii. **sub urban** \- cradles_  
_┊ix. **sam smith** \- lay me down_  
_┊x. **billie eilish** \- everything i wanted_  
_┊xi. **trevor daniel** \- falling_

**_[ weeb ver. ]_ **  
_┊i. **pinocchio-p** \- love for love by love of love_  
_┊ii. **kaikiri bear, maretu** \- failure girl_  
_┊iii. **ayase** \- last resort_  
_┊iv. **deco*27** \- psychogram_  
_┊v. **maretu** \- packet hero_  
_┊vi. **kikuo** \- substitute_  
_┊vii. **akari nanawo** \- one room sugar life_  
_┊viii. **kuroneko** \- uso no hibana_

**_[ lo-fi ver. ]_ **  
_┊i. **kina** \- nobody cares_

_﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀_  
**_｡↷ ✧₊˚‧☆ﾐ PROGRESS AND COMPLETION¡ •ଓ.°_ **

_[ first year - ❌ ]_  
_[ second year - ❌ ]_  
_[ third year - ❌ ]_  
_[ fourth year - ❌ ]_  
_[ fifth year - ❌ ]_  
_[ sixth year - ❌ ]_  
_[ unknown - ❌ ]_  
_[ final encounter - ❌ ]_

_ଓ.° **started on** : august 23, 2019_  
_ଓ.° **ended on** : ???_

* * *

_**❝Don't even try to escape me.** _  
_**I finally have you in my grasp.❞** _


	2. I - I : 「The Deal and the Beginning」

**❝What is mine is only mine.**   
**And I'm ready to kill for it.❞**

* * *

I woke up to the sound of my phone's alarm blaring through my room in a high volume. With a small groan escaping my chapped and dry lips, I twist and turn around my twin-sized bed before reaching towards the nightstand where my phone was located.

When I felt the gadget around my hands, I drag it towards me with the sound of the alarm now making me want to throw this phone across the room for being too noisy. 

As my (E/C) eyes squinted groggily, I let my finger navigate around the screen to turn this blasted alarm off.

Once the alarm was turned off, I let out a sigh of relief before dropping my phone to the side and sitting up from the bed. 

"Ugh, why do I need to go to school anyway?" I murmur tiredly while rubbing and scratching my eyes, yawning in the process before grabbing my phone, standing up and dragging my tired legs over to the kitchen.

My body is still yearning for sleep but I immediately told my brain to deal with it as I didn't want to be late for school. 

I don't want to fidget and walk outside the classroom anxiously while waiting for the teacher to get out of the classroom so I can finally step inside and save myself the shame and embarrassment of being late.

Once I reached the kitchen, I scroll through my phone to play my playlist and placed it on the dining table. 

_Owl City's "Fireflies"_ played through my phone's speaker as I started to brew myself a cup of warm coffee so I can start my day without looking like a dead zombie that crawled out from the ground.

Although I already look like that every day.

When I made my way to the sink, I stared at the mountain of dishes, glasses and bowls that I didn't get to wash last night for a moment. 

I tell myself that I'll just wash them after I get back from school as I turned the faucet on and washed my hands, letting the cold waters run down to my palms and my knuckles.

The coldness of the water almost snapped me awake but when I turned the faucet off, my body went back to its tired state.

"I'd like to make myself believe," I sang while brewing my coffee and cooking myself up a light breakfast, consisting of jam sandwich and two sunny side up eggs. "That planet Earth turns slowly." I continued, placing my cup of coffee on the table before setting my attention to my cooking eggs.

"It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep," I turn the stove off and grabbed a clean plate from my dish rack. "'Cause everything is never as it seems," With the spatula, I gently placed the eggs on the plate and set them on the table.

"When I fall asleep." After making my jam sandwich, I take myself a seat at the table while singing along to Fireflies. 

If there wasn't any music at all, I'd cringe at how weird and off-key my voice sounds like so I just sing along to the singer so, at least, I wouldn't hear my shitty voice.

As I ate by myself, I glance over at the empty seat across the table. For some reason, I always find myself staring at the empty seat as if I expect that someone is going to sit there. 

I wanted to move the chair away so I don't have to keep reminding myself that I'm alone but my hopeful self didn't want me to.

Without any words leaving my mouth, I continued to eat in silence while the loneliness in my heart grew but I know that I can't do anything about it. 

I sigh in defeat as _"when the party's over"_ began to play on my phone.

* * *

"Have you finished your homework yet?"  
"Yeah, I'm surprised that I managed to finish it, to be honest."  
"Cool. Can I copy? I was too busy last night."  
"Go fuck yourself."

I increased the volume of my song without giving a damn that it'll destroy my hearing. I think my hearing's already been destroyed after hearing my classmates say a bunch of stupid shit all the time.

I arranged the position of my earphones for a moment before I continue to scroll through my phone, reading some Harry Potter fanfictions that I find interesting and seem to be original. 

I've had enough of reading Harry Potter fanfictions that either has;

The MC be Lily's sister, Harry's sister, Voldemort's daughter or- yeah, you get the idea.

Also, what's up with some fan fictions saying that the MC lives in America yet still receive a Hogwarts letter despite Hogwarts being in UK? 

Like, is there Hogwarts in America or something?

"Hey, (Y/N)." I heard someone call my last name so I looked up from my phone. 

When I saw that it was one of my classmates, Louis, I removed one earbud from my ear, indicating that I'm listening to what he has to say.

"Yeah?"

"Did you finish your homework?" Louis flushed, casting his green eyes somewhere else.

"Yeah. I'm not going to let you copy so don't even ask." My eyes became half-lidded but Louis immediately flicked his eyes towards mine, a look of surprise and fluster visible on his freckled features.

"N-No! I-I was about to let you c-copy mine if you haven't finished it yet." He exclaimed while rubbing his neck bashfully.

 _He's always obvious_ , I thought to myself. 

Not that I'm interested in him though.

But I am interested about how he feels about me. Not everyone really bothers to talk to me or even have some sort of feelings for me so Louis liking me...

Well, I don't really know how to respond to that.

With a fake smile curling up at the corner of my lips, I place my head on the palm of my hand. 

"Really? I was going to let you copy mine if you haven't finished yours so I guess we both feel the same way, huh?" I scoff playfully as I found myself feeling nothing but contempt to Louis as he started to panic and blush heavily because of what I just said.

_Nothing, there's still nothing._

I close my eyes for a moment, pursing my lips in frustration and lifting my head up from the palm of my hand.

_If you can't bring yourself to get me to feel the same way, then don't waste my time._

_I have no use for people like you._

"D-Do you maybe want to go to McDonald's later? My treat, of course." Louis stuttered as my eyes travelled down to his fingers, who were crossed in hopes of getting me to say yes to his pathetic offer.

I give him a gentle smile and although it'd be fun to buy everything from the McDonald's menu just to make Louis broke, I felt like it's unnecessary considering he's irrelevant to me.

_Anyone who shows a half-baked effort when it comes to love is worth nothing to me._

"I'm sorry but I have plans for tonight. My mother is coming back from overseas, you see and I need to be on the airport by 5 pm. Maybe some other time." I gently rejected his offer with a lie that I managed to come up with ever since I stepped in this godforsaken school.

The lie that my mother is still living with me.

The lie that I'm not alone and as pathetic as people think I am.

If anything, the only thing I'll be doing tonight is binge-watch Harry Potter and browse r/harrypotter right after my shift in 7-eleven. 

I'm living alone so I need to get some cash so I won't be living in the streets.

"O-Oh," Louis' smile dropped but he still smiled nonetheless, "It's fine. Let's just hang out some other time then." He said before giving me a short wave of goodbye and heading over to his seat where a few of my female classmates are waiting for him so they could strike up a conversation with him.

I roll my eyes at this as I placed my earbud back on and continued to read the Harry Potter fanfiction. I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up to be a hardcore player and I'm just one of his targets. 

Make sense why I don't feel an ounce of interest for this boy.

_I hope he stays the fuck away from me soon._

Good thing that there's no class tomorrow so I won't be able to see his face for two days, at least.

* * *

I yawned as I stared at the seemingly empty 7-eleven aisles while consistently hoping that my shift is over already however, judging from the clock that's positioned right on top of the entrance way, it'll be 2 hours before my shift is over.

"Maybe I should look for some other jobs instead." I murmured, itching to grab my phone from my pocket and just browse the Harry Potter Wikipedia for some Harry Potter information that I can forcefully stuff inside my brain.

But my manager will probably catch me and then scold me for an hour before letting me go home and her voice is annoying enough as it is. 

She's Dolores Umbridge but wears red all the time.

The doors opened as a cheerful ding indicated that a customer entered the store. A girl and a boy walked inside, laughing and holding hands tightly. 

My eyeballs nearly back flipped itself towards my brain but I held myself back when they stopped laughing and started to get whatever the fuck they're going to buy.

The boy has a messy curled hair that's dyed green. He looks like he hasn't been fixing his hair for days. He also wore some black piercings and an oversized grey sweater with black jeans and white converse sneakers. 

I didn't really bother to pay attention to his facial features because judging from the way he looks, I can definitely tell what kind of a person he is.

The girl also dyed her hair with gradient pink and violet. I half expected her to wear black clothes but to my surprise, she's wearing a green pastel shirt that said "trash" in it and blue skinny jeans. 

She looks like a typical soft 'uwu' girl but is definitely kind of rebellious in a way.

When the two approached the cashier, they placed their products on the counter as they continued to talk to each other with a smile etched on their faces. 

I can feel envy surfacing in my emotions as I glanced over at the couple with half-lidded eyes while checking their item out.

 _You lucky bastards_ , I thought to myself in hate.

"Oh yeah," The boy spoke and turned his head towards me. "Do y'all serve popcorn here?" He asked and I found myself being dumbfounded by his question. 

Although he probably meant something else, I'm still shocked as to why he asked something like that.

"Sir, does this look like the cinema to you?" I cock my eyebrow upward. His smile dropped slightly when he heard my words and my dumbfounded tone as if I find him to be completely ridiculous.

Well, which I do.

"I meant like those flavors and those little seed things that you just need to cook and all that stu-"

"Yes sir, I know what you mean. It's in the snacks aisle." I cut him off, staring at him with a deadpan look while he just narrows his eyes at me. 

The girl is just looking at us with a nervous expression before she forced a nervous laugh and grabbed her boyfriend by his arm.

"W-We'll go and take it. Could you please hold on to our items for a while?" The girl's soft voice almost made my contempt for this two disappear. 

All I could do is node and say "sure" as they walked away and whispered hushed words to each other.

Probably talking about how rude I am but I couldn't really care less. I just want to go home and do whatever I want to do without associating myself with these kinds of people.

"Hey, (Y/N)!" My manager approached me with a wave and a smile that's always prominent on her face. 

I groggily drifted my attention towards my manager but if I kept a tired expression on my face, I might receive another annoying sermon from her so I managed to force a small smile to tell her that I'm fine.

"Hey." I briefly acknowledged her annoying presence as she stopped in front of me.

"I just remembered; you can go home early for tonight since your mother's coming back and I don't want to be held responsible for letting her child work while she's waiting for you in your home." She giggled while arranging her uniform and placing her hands on her hips like a typical strong anime girl. 

I almost scoffed at this but held myself back.

"Are you sure? I can always tell my mom that I need to work until my shift's finished." I cock my eyebrow up with a fake surprised tone. 

Of course, she nodded and gently pushed me away from the cashier.

"Yes, I'm sure!" She said while glancing over at the items that I held for a while until those idiotic couples come back. 

"Tell Mrs. (L/N) that I said 'hi', alright?" My manager made a dumb thumbs up while I just smiled with a nod and as I went to grab my school bag.

"Oh," I suddenly remembered and turned to face my manager, "Can I get some chips and a soda?" I asked, taking out my wallet so I can immediately pay for it without having to go to grab the two items and back to the cashier.

"It's in the house, (Y/N)! Let your mom taste the flavor of Lays and Pepsi!"

* * *

I began to walk out of the store with an annoyed frown etched on my face. I inserted the plastic bag inside my bag so I don't have to deal with the hassle of getting to hold a plastic bag.

"Don't talk to me as if you're so damn close to me, idiot." I mumble while plugging my earphones on my phone and playing my usual playlist before tucking my phone inside my pocket while my heavy ass backpack is just hanging from my back.

"You're already holding a ton of responsibility for being such a shitty manager." Clicking my tongue, I turn into a corner as I kept walking towards my own home. I don't want to bother getting a taxi since it's just a 10 minute walk away.

Why should I waste money on something that I can just do for free?

Besides, I need to save up.

My mind drifted into the cheerful faces of those two and my manager, making me frown slightly due to the fact that they're actually genuinely happy with what they have in their lives right now.

While here I am, 18 years old yet I'm still unhappy with a lot of things. 

I have no family, I'm living alone, I don't bother to associate myself with other people because they're annoying and I lie to everyone who I talk to because I don't want them to think that I'm pathetic.

Unfortunately, I haven't done the same thing when I was in middle school so that resulted into me being an outcast and labelled as an 'out of control' teenager. 

But, I didn't have any regrets beating my classmates up for teasing me about not having a mother and I'm actually just a whore's child.

They deserved it, why should I apologize?

It was only then I realized that not everyone will bother to understand you or let themselves get down to your level just to know where you're coming from. 

They're too entitled to make everyone know that they're better than anyone else and if you have the slightest flaw when it comes to your life, you're immediately cast as a nobody.

Just nothing but a problematic pile of chaos and disorder.

So if they can't let themselves understand me, I'll just coat myself with lies that I made up about myself so I wouldn't be pitied and someone who needed help. Someone who actually has something interesting in their life.

Someone who, still, isn't missing something important in their life.

If being entitled is how the world works now, then I have no problems with silently degrading everyone else. They're nothing to me.

But, I don't want to step down on their level of being a complete asshole and publicly question anyone who's underneath them about their worth. I'm not that kind of person, not at all. 

Well, at least, not publicly.

I've learned to deal everything that's making my life shit to be normal. It always happens to me every single day that I'm starting to get bored. 

Nothing ever interesting happens anymore.

Instead of being a cheerful teenager that's about to live as a young adult, I'm just here questioning if my life will get any better from here. 

I'm just living with the feeling of emptiness growing stronger than ever and I desperately needed something that can make my life feel like it has any worth at all.

And what's better than making my life know that it's worth something by gaining and experiencing the strongest emotion there is?

Which is love.

Everyone needs love. Everyone gains love at some point in their lives, whether from relationships or families or from friends.

But I have neither of those.

The only other thing that gives me a sense of fantasy, love and interest is Harry Potter. There's just something about the magical world that draws me in to it and just watching fictional characters go in this adventure with their friends make you feel like you're also following them in their adventure.

Which is why I love it so much.

It makes me feel like I'm in an adventure and I can feel what the characters are feeling, almost as if I'm actually interacting with them.

Who cares if it's a false sense of adventure? If I can still get some fun out of it, why not take it?

I can find myself smiling genuinely or even exclaiming loudly sometimes while reading and watching Harry Potter. If it can make me smile, even the tiniest bit, then it's absolutely worth it to sell a piece of my soul to it.

I took my phone out of my pocket to change the music since I don't feel like listening to Heathens right now. 

The next song that came on was _"Happy Now" by Zedd._

I shrugged and placed my phone back inside my pocket since the song isn't that bad for me to listen to right now.

In the corner of my eye, I can see a random person with an orange colored hoodie walking towards me. They had their hood up and from the darkness of the street, it's completely covering their face as well.

I silently scoff and drifted my eyes away from them, thinking that they might be some sort of a drug dealer that lurks around this area and offering drugs to random high school students.

"Hey, miss/mister." I heard the random hoodie person say. I turned around curiously and slightly panicking because they might want to sell me some drugs.

"Are you talking to me?" I ask as my grip on my backpack begin to tighten due to caution. I don't want to deal with random drug hippies.

"Duh, who else is here? Only you, right?" They laugh while I almost get this feeling of wanting to slap the fuck out of this guy.

"I thought you were talking to your imaginary friends. You know, with all the drugs that you're taking." I replied to his question and his laugh eventually faded, making me feel somewhat anxious again.

Did I offend them?

Eventually, they opened their mouth after a minute of silence or so.

"You should really be careful of what you wish for, miss/mister. Trust me," Their tone eventually became sad and quite pitiful, to be honest. 

I can just feel the regret and guilt from them as they pulled their hood lower, careful not to let their face be seen by the light from the street lamp.

"Because I've been living with the consequences from those wishes I selfishly asked for." They turn around and tucked both of their hands inside their orange hoodie before walking off with their slouched posture disappearing into the dark.

I stood there for a moment, staring at the same spot where the hoodie person disappeared into before I snapped back into reality and continued walking towards my home. 

I narrowed my eyes confusingly as the grip on my bag loosened, indicating that I was finally at ease.

"...what a weird person." I murmur, picking up my pace so I wouldn't have to run into a random person again. I've had enough of interaction with weirdos this day.

* * *

I inserted my key to my door before slowly opening it, revealing the darkness that resides in my house after being gone for an entire day. 

I let my hand travel through the walls situated at the right side of the doorway until I felt a light switch on the tip of my fingers.

As I flipped the light switch on, I groan tiredly and let myself enter my messy abode, closing the door and then locking it in the process.

I suddenly remembered that my 'mother' is supposed to come home tonight so I scoff playfully while throwing my bag on the couch and sloppily slipping my school shoes off of my feet.

"Hey, mom! I'm home!" I jokingly yelled but it sounds really pathetic; calling out to my, presumably, dead mother at a house where I'm currently living alone. 

Being the pathetic person I am, I chuckle at my joke before dragging my feet over to the kitchen.

My eyes drifted over towards the dirty plates that I didn't get to wash this morning. I stared at it for a moment before promising myself that I'll wake up early tomorrow so I have time to wash the plates.

As I opened the fridge, I immediately scan the insides until my eyes landed on a container full of spaghetti. 

This spaghetti was given to me by my neighbor yesterday since it was her birthday and she had extras so she gave it to the me and the other tenants. 

Since I was too lazy to even heat it up, I just grabbed the cold container of the spaghetti and a fork before heading towards my room. 

I set the container and the fork on the table for a moment to grab my laptop and turn it on, browsing through my Harry Potter file and choosing the first film, which is the Philosopher's Stone. 

I'm up for a Harry Potter marathon since there's no class tomorrow,

and there's no better way to get through the weekends except being immersed in a fictional and magical world that makes you feel like you're in an adventure with the other characters.

Once I hit play, I adjust myself on the bed, placing the laptop on my stomach and feeling the warm temperature from underneath the laptop as I grabbed my spaghetti and fork, ready to eat and ready to watch.

* * *

"Yes, Neville! You're a fucking pro!" I scream, pumping my fists up in the air in celebration of Neville beheading Nagini, Voldemort's last horcrux with my hoarse voice from all of the screaming I did during the duration of the marathon.

I watched as Voldemort turned into dust, his ashes disappearing and being blown away as his desperate red eyes seemed like his life was flashing through his eyes. 

I could see a faint transition of his red eyes to his original dark brown ones but I didn't bother to confirm as he was already gone. 

In a way, I pitied him and somewhat sympathized with him. I think I already know the answer why but I didn't say anything else as I continued watching and slightly caught myself being teary eyed while _"Leaving Hogwarts"_ plays in the ending.

It made me feel like I was actually watching the golden trio and all of these characters watch their children go to Hogwarts as well, waving them goodbye and making them remind themselves that they, too, were once children who went to the school that changed their lives for the better.

"It's still as emotional as the first time I saw it." I softly smiled but it immediately dropped when the low battery notification flashed through my screen.

_**WARNING** _

_**Battery is below 10%. Please connect to a charger.** _

"Ah fuck." I hissed silently while stumbling out of my messy bed to grab the hanging charger from my drawer near the door. 

I immediately ran back to the laptop and inserted the charger on the charging pin and then plugged the adaptor to the plug on the wall.

I sighed in relief once I saw that the laptop is now charging and that it's not going to forcefully shut itself down. This laptop is old so if I forcefully shut itself down, it might not turn itself on anymore.

As I ruffled my messy hair, I flicked my eyes over towards the time and laughed once I saw that it's already 1 PM. 

I stayed up all night and morning just to finish the entire movies but I didn't have any regrets.

I needed that rush of excitement that I can only get from Harry Potter after all.

I smile softly, setting the laptop aside while being cautious as to not accidentally unplug the charger before plopping myself to my bed, staring up to my cream colored ceiling. 

The feeling of emptiness returned but I didn't do anything except bring my arm over to my eyes and rest my other arm over to my stomach, ready to sleep these feelings off and this day off after a day of marathon.

I suddenly remembered what that weirdo said last night; something about "be careful what you wish for". 

I scoff then turned myself over, thinking that if the wish is truly what I desire then there's no problem with taking the risk that came along with it.

I want to feel love, I want to be loved and I want to feel the same rush of happiness and sense of adventure that I can get from the magical world of Harry Potter. 

Call me insane but I wouldn't mind giving all of this up just to have a chance to live in a world like that.

It's, at least, better than staying in a world where no one really wants you to be in.

"If there was a way for me to be in that world, if there was a way for me to realize that life isn't what I expect it to be; bleak, boring and unfair, then I'll take it. I don't mind wishing for something like that." I murmur, feeling myself getting drowsy and my eyes burning due to the fact that I stayed up late watching 8 movies straight without a break.

In a few seconds, I was knocked out.

I didn't even notice that it was raining outside.

* * *

_"You know," A loud, echoing voice snapped me out of my sleepy state that I sat up almost instantaneously._

_I expected to feel the texture of my bed on my fingers but to my surprise, I felt nothing but cold, hard ground._

_"You're the type of person who doesn't seem to mind the consequences as long as you get what you want, like what a selfish person would do." I gulped, looking around and seeing nothing but absolute darkness that it's starting to scare me._

_I can't even see the owner of that voice around this darkness._

_"And believe it or not," When I felt a presence behind me, I pursed my lips for a moment before turning around to see who was talking to me through this freaky ass dream._

_"It usually leads to their demise and it makes them wish that they didn't get what they wanted, desperately crawling out from the despair that they created themselves." A random child-looking figure smiled, tucking their hands on their hoodie's pockets._

_I felt my eyes widen once I recognized the familiar orange hoodie that this figure wore. I glanced up to their face and saw their child-like features._

_They had short, strawberry blonde hair, almost resembling like a bob cut. They wore red jogging pants and worn out orange sneakers._

_"Nice to meet you, (Y/N)." Their smile widened but I stood up, stumbling for a moment before making myself sure what their gender actually is._

_I don't want to assume anything so I just didn't say anything about their gender._

_"H-Hold on, where am I?" I look around once more._

_"Well, just like what you think it is, in the middle of nowhere in a dream. You could say that you're lucid dreaming right now." They answered with a shrug. "You do know what lucid dreaming is, right?"_

_"Who are you? Why are you speaking as if... you know everything that's happening right now?" I ignored their question, facing them with a frantic look on my face._

_"I don't have a name. Just call me whatever you want and to answer your question, that's because I'm actually the one who brought you here." They began to jump around, playing with themselves like this is a completely normal situation._

_"I did hear and feel your desire of wanting to change something in your life and to be able to feel that strong emotion that everybody wants; love." Hoodie said as I internally choked on my spit. I didn't actually expect it to be this real._

_I thought this kind of stuff only happens in books and movies, making desires and wishes come true that it's ridiculous._

_"Let me ask you this question then, (Y/N);" They stopped jumping around, disappearing into nothingness and leaving me alone in this dark place._

_"Do you really hate your normal life?" Hoodie's voice echoed around the space once more and once that question came out of their mouth, I looked down to the black ground as if I'm staring into nothingness._

_"I wouldn't have asked for something like that if I didn't, right?" I mumble but when I heard Hoodie's laugh, I assume that they must've heard my answer._

_I didn't intend for it to be rude, of course._

_"Well, that's true considering that you're willing to throw everything away just to be able to achieve your desires." They said. "Commendable but very dangerous."_

_"But if you really want to escape, I can let you stay in the magical world that you always wanted to be a part of." Hoodie suddenly appeared in front of me that I shrieked and stumbled back in surprise._

_They didn't laugh or anything but their creepy, unending smile stayed on their face._

_"I'm not escaping-"_

_"(Y/N), we both know that someone who is willing to abandon their previous life and is frustrated that they can't feel the same emotion of love that they felt when they were a child is the same as escaping everything else for the sake of their selfish desires." Hoodie's smile faded as they began to stare at me sternly and intently, almost egging me to refute what they said._

_"And if love and a new life is what you truly desire, I'll be able to give that to you. Of course, there are consequences but like you said, you wouldn't care, would you?" I give them a look of perplexity and skepticism, wondering how the hell can they even do something like that._

_"What I want from you," They pointed towards me, "is your unnaturally high desire and infatuation for this magical world that you want to be in." Hoodie tucked their hand back inside their hoodie pocket._

_"By doing something as a trigger to those emotions, that dangerously high infatuation will be reciprocated to the people around you and they won't do anything but love you." They said which made me bite the insides of my cheek._

_"...that's not the kind of love that I want." I said, rubbing my arm worriedly._

_"But it is what you asked for. Either you take it or not, it's your choice but just know that I don't do anything without a price." They said._

_Both of us were silent for a moment until I spoke up._

_"What happens if I die?" I ask as I began to worry and eyeing Hoodie with a concerned look. They don't look as worried as I do but that's understandable, considering that this is more on me than it is for them._

_"You die in real life as well. Remember that all of it is still just a dream, nothing about it is real however death in the dream will also bring the death of you in real life." Hoodie replied to my question which made me look back to the dark ground, thinking if I should just accept this offer._

_If I accept, I get what I want and I can have that sense of adventure that I've always wanted._

_But then again, if I accept, I am risking and abandoning everything I have, even my boring life._

_Why am I hesitating? Isn't this what I want?_

_Suddenly, memories of my childhood self watching my parents get into fights entered my mind, beating other children which causes them to stay away from me and my torn up stuffed doll left to the ground while my dad just walked away with my mother crying to the ground then eventually fading away into dust as if I've repressed those memories for so long and they're only there to remind me the painful things I've went through when I was only a small child._

_With a hint of determination glinting through my (E/C) eyes and a push of courage in my heart, I purse my lips and then nod, accepting their offer._

_Hoodie wasn't phased with my decision and didn't say anything else except walk towards me with their footsteps ringing in the suddenly silent place._

_"One thing I forgot to mention," They said as they placed their hand on my forehead._

_"If you can't manage to bring, at least one person, to be infatuated with you by the end of the first year, I need to kill you myself as it is against my contract to fulfill anyone's desire without a price. I die if I do." Hoodie warned as I felt a strange, painful flash go through my eyes for a moment while I was thinking of what the trigger to those infatuated emotions might be._

_All of a sudden, I felt my eyelids drop and my body getting lighter. It felt like I was falling down to a never ending abyss and when I wanted to reach out and scream for help, my body and my voice wouldn't oblige._

_Fear began to rise up on my throat and I suddenly imagined how it'd be if I fell down to the ground. I couldn't even breathe anymore._

_It wasn't until I felt my body falling down in a slow pace, as if it was in slow motion._

_"Good luck, (Y/N)."_

* * *

"(Y/N)?" A voice snapped me back into reality. I look beside me and saw someone who looked a lot like me, almost as if we were twins though he had more masculine features.

"Geez, you've been spacing out a lot since we got inside the train." He sighed as he took his book out and read it with such immersion. I look out into the window of the train that we were on. 

Multiple terrains and trees passed us by almost instantaneously as I pursed my lips together in confusion.

_How did I get inside a train?_

I turned my head back towards the boy next to me. I assume that he's my brother but I've never had a brother before. 

"Hey," He looks up from his book and looks at me with confusion and one eyebrow raised. "Um, excuse me for asking such a weird question but uh..." I scratch my head, obviously going to regret what I'm going to say next.

"Who are you, what is this train, why am I on this train and how am I related to you?" I asked, pointing to him, pointing to the floor of this train and pointed towards myself. 

His face scrunched up in confusion as he placed his book down on his lap.

"What the hell? Did you hit your head or something?" He asked, immediately backing himself away from me towards the edge of the train seat. 

"Come on, sis/bro. You know, I don't like jokes like that!" My 'brother' exclaimed, huffing angrily.

I sweat dropped and shook my head sadly. "A-Actually, I really... don't know who you are..." I look down to the floor, regret immediately lingering over my back. 

"(Y/N), please stop joking. I am serious." Just as he said, he does sound serious now. I internally sighed, knowing I won't be able to get answers from him.

_Well, what did I even expect?_

I look back at him with a strained smile on my face. A nervous laugh came out of my mouth as I scratched the back of my head. 

"L-Looks like I got you again, uh... bro!" I exclaimed, internally thanking myself for thinking up 'bro' since I didn't know his name.

His expression didn't change one bit. Instead, he sighed and opened his mouth to speak.

"I'm going to tell Zeke."

I stayed silent for a moment, tilting my head to the side in curiosity. 

"Who's Zeke?"

Silence engulfed the compartment for a short while until he pursed his lips as the grip on his book tightened. 

"I'm your brother, Alem Rosewood. This is the Hogwarts Train. You're here because you were accepted as a student at Hogwarts, like me. You're my older sister/brother by 10 minutes." He goes back to his usual position earlier and continues to read his book while answering all of the questions I asked earlier.

"Um... did you just--"

"You wouldn't just forget who Zeke is and I can tell if you're lying or not since you do it so badly." Alem answered calmly, flipping another page. 

"A-Ah, is that right?" I removed my hand from my nose, looking at Alem with a nervous expression.

I wanted to ask more but I feel like it'll come off as insincere and he won't take me seriously anymore.

"So, what happened to you?" Alem asked. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat and fiddled with my fingers, not knowing what to say to answer Alem's question. 

I could lie but I can't even think of anything.

"I... uh..."

"And tell me honestly; like I said, you suck at lying so don't even try." He stole a glance towards my surprised expression before looking back on his book. 

"I... don't remember, actually..." I answered honestly, considering that lying is completely out of the question. He's my little brother but he's darn smart.

Makes me feel bad about myself.

"You don't remember? Are you telling me that you've been Obliviated?" Alem's eyes widened, placing his full attention back to me. I tilt my head to the side in confusion. 

"Obliviated?" I asked like a lost puppy looking for its owner. Alem's eyes narrowed at this.

"(Y/N), this is not a goddamn joke. I know that you fully know what Obliviate is." He slams his book down to the train seat as he raised his voice. 

I slightly yelped and waved my hands around, starting to sweat nervously.

"I-I'm not joking! I really don't know what it means!"

"We've been practicing Obliviate since we got our Hogwarts letter, (Y/N)... Are you telling me that you forgot all of that?"

"It's not like I forgot all of it. It's just that I didn't even know that happened..." Another moment of silence loomed over our entire compartment. 

The only thing that we could hear at the moment were the constant bickering of other people in other compartments and the sound of the train moving rapidly.

"Let's just get our robes and change, alright? I'm sure you're just hungry." Alem spoke, breaking the suffocating silence as he stood up from his seat and opened his blue colored bag, taking out a working robe that looked like it could fit him perfectly.

"Mom said that there's always a feast after the sorting of the first years. Make sure that you'll eat a lot so I won't have to tell Mom that you're acting weird on the first day." He chuckled, wearing his robe and walked out of the compartment, probably to go to the bathroom or something.

I stared at the palm of my hands, frowning. "Why can't I remember anything?" I ask the question that has been lingering within my mind for a long time now. 

But, it really is weird; I can't remember what happened to me, I can't remember Alem, I can't even remember who I am. It really feels surreal. 

And why the hell doesn't he believe me?

I sigh, knowing that my questions won't be answered if I keep sitting here like a loser. I stand up and looked at the two luggages sitting at the opposite of our seat. 

Considering that Alem opened the blue one, I guess it would be plausible that the **(favorite color)** one is mine. 

I walk over to my bag and zipped it open, revealing a bunch of clothing that I didn't know was mine in the first place.

The first thing I saw when I opened my bag was the neatly folded robe placed on top of my clothes and a black colored wand laying securely beside it. 

I took the robe out of the bag and placed them to the side. I glance over at the wand and looked at it curiously.

_Is this Alem's or something? But, why would he keep a wand in **my** bag?_

I shoved the thought off and sifted through my bag, looking at everything I supposedly brought with me. 

Most of them were oversized hoodies and few sweaters and t-shirts. Pajamas, jogging pants and normal pants sat at the very bottom of the bag.

I zipped the first batch of the bag close and opened the second one which caused me to blush softly at its contents. 

I gently zipped it close, pretending that I didn't see anything.

Finally, I zipped the third batch open. 

Inside were a bunch of books and a lone **(favorite color)** colored diary with a bunch of cute stickers littered around the front of it.

I smile at the newfound hope that I managed to find. I could be able to find a little bit about myself through this notebook. A clinking sound was heard when I flipped it over. 

I examined it and it had a combination lock at the side of the notebook.

Well of course it wasn't going to be easy.

I grumble, placing the notebook back inside. 

The rest of the contents were filled with quills and... a small vial that was filled with bubbling pink colored liquid. I squint at it.

_What the hell is this?_

There was a note that was attatched to the potion with glittering (favorite color) string. I examined the note and I just grew more confused at the writing inside.

_"For Him"_

I cringe internally at the realization that I have a crush on someone, probably on that guy named Zeke. Thinking about that makes it feel like I possessed this body or something. 

_Wait, what if that's the reason why I can't remember anything?_

"Huh, you didn't change yet?" Alem's voice caught me off guard and I yelped, almost dropping the vial to the floor. 

"Geez, don't scare me like that." I sent him a slight glare, holding the vial close to my chest. Alem's eyes widened and took a step closer to me.

"Are you finally back to normal?"

"...Do you seriously still don't believe me?" I gave him a deadpanned look while he sighed, crossing his arms. 

"Sorry, it's just--"

"Did I just do something that I would normally do if you scared me?" Alem nodded with a small hum. I gave him one last glare before holding the vial out for him to see.

"Anyway, do you know what this is? I think I'm supposed to give it to someone but I don't know who." I asked as Alem leaned closer towards the vial. 

He gasped loudly and snatched it out of my hands, examining it even closer.

"Did you seriously just create a love potion!? Who were you going to give it to!?" Alem exclaimed while my jaw was hung agape. 

That thing was a love potion!?

"That's a love potion!?" I exclaim back, pointing at the potion accusingly. 

"Well, yes! Don't tell me you don't know what a love potion is!?"

"The name is pretty self explanatory, Alem! I know what love potions are!" Suddenly, the train started to go slower and eventually, halting to a stop. 

Thousands of footsteps rumbled around the train as a bunch of students were piling out of the window. 

Alem huffed as he threw the potion back to me.

It was a miracle that I was able to catch it as fast as I could. 

"Get changed, sis/bro. I'll wait for you outside the train." Alem smiled before walking out of the compartment with his blue bag slung over his shoulder. 

I stared at the potion before tossing it back inside the bag. I zipped it close and walked over to the robe, putting it on.

I had a little bit of trouble since I've never worn something like this before but I managed. 

Satisfied, I grabbed my own bag and slung it over my shoulder as I walked out of my own compartment with questions still lingering over my head.

* * *

**❝I used to think that the worst thing in life was to end up alone.**   
**It's not.**   
**The worst thing in life is to end up with people who make you feel alone.❞**


	3. I - II: 「A Disastrous Night」

**❝You are mine.**   
**No one, except me, can have you.❞**

* * *

"Hey," I heard Alem call out as soon as I walked out of the train. 

I managed to squeeze myself within the multitude of students that were passing me by and eventually, I reached Alem who stood completely still even though a bunch of students bumped him while they passed by. 

I noticed him eyeing me up and down, humming softly to himself. 

"...Can you stop that; you're creeping me out." I groaned, grasping my bag tighter. Alem rolled his eyes and took my hand, leading me through the bustling crowd of students. 

"It looks great on you." I smirk to myself once I heard Alem say that.

"Are you trying to flirt with your brother/sister, Alem?" I tease, letting my smirk grow wide as Alem turned around with a large blush tinting his seemingly pale cheeks. 

"It's not like that! It's just..." His words started to become like a mumble but it's loud enough for me to hear despite all of the loud bickering and footsteps of every student.

"First years, over here!" A gruff and loud voice interrupted our conversation. We look further into a distance and saw a huge man with a bushy mustache, waving. 

"That's our cue." Alem breathed out before he continued to drag me through the crowd, only more harsh and his pacing became faster. 

"Woah, s-slow down, Alem!" I started to pant and tried to keep my bag falling from my shoulders. 

After a while of being pushed around and being dragged around, we were finally able to reach our destination. We were told to take a boat and so we did. 

I sat down at the rocky boat and placed my bag on my lap, making it act as a makeshift pillow. The boat rocked once more when Alem sat next to me and placed his bag on his lap as well. 

Sitting across from us was a boy who had messy raven hair and large round glasses. Though it isn't very clear, he also had crystal clear green eyes. 

It's sort of fascinating, to say the least. 

Next to him was also a boy who had slightly curly red hair and freckles on his face. I can't deny that he was sort of cute.

A tsunami of thoughts began to wash inside my head as I frantically tried to decide if I should introduce myself or just not say anything.

_Wait, what if they're going to dislike me?_

_No, I'm just overreacting but still, that might happen!_

_Wait wait, try to say 'hello', (Y/N)._

_No, wait, should I introduce myself first or--_

"Hi, my name's Alem Rosewood." Alem extended his hand out for the two to shake with a gentle smile gracing over his lips. 

Well, he saved me from overthinking about this stuff... 

The raven haired boy and the redhead looked at each other for a moment before the raven haired boy leaned in and shook his hand for a while. 

"Harry Potter." He said before retracting his hand. Alem choked to nothing as he looked at the Potter boy with disbelief.

"H-Harry Potter, as in, _the_ Harry Potter!?" My brother exclaimed while I just looked at the Potter boy curiously. 

_Where have I heard that name before?_ I tapped my chin, trying to think. 

"U-Um... yes?" The Potter boy said, quite unsure of his answer. Alem gasped loudly then grasped my hand to snap me out of my thoughts. 

"Sis/bro, it's Harry Potter! As in, _the_ actual Harry Potter!" His loud voice almost made me jump out of the boat and I had to rub both of my ears to recover from Alem's loud shout. 

In the corner of my eye, I can see the Potter boy just looking at us nervously while the redhead just looked at us with amusement.

"Alem, calm down; you sound like a diehard fangirl. Also, who's Harry Potter and why is he such a big deal to you?" I groan, gently pulling my hand away from Alem's.

_Silence._

"Wait, wait, wait, wait..." My brother backed away from me, raising both of his hands in the air. 

"You... don't know who Harry Potter is?" Alem stared at me with disbelief. Even the redhead kid. I nodded, replying to Alem's question with a poker face.

"The name's familiar but I don't know him." I shrug, looking over at the Potter boy. 

"Is that supposed to be you?" The Potter boy nodded slowly at my question. 

"You've been raving on about meeting Harry Potter here at Hogwarts and you say that you've _forgotten_ about him!?" Alem grabbed hold of my shoulders and shook me back and forth, making me dizzy. I slightly blushed at Alem's words.

"H-Have I?" I managed to squeak out despite the constant shaking of my shoulders. Eventually, Alem stopped shaking me and looked at me with concern. 

He was about to open his mouth to speak but immediately closed it, giving me one final glance before facing the redhead and the Potter boy.

"Sorry about that. Anyway," Alem apologized briefly and looked over at the redhead. 

"I believe that you haven't told us your name yet." My brother gently smiled. The redhead pursed his lips for a moment before introducing himself. 

"Ron Weasley..." After Weasley boy told us his name, he glanced over to me, who was looking back at him with confusion. 

"And I believe they haven't told their's either." I slightly jumped at my seat and silently apologized before giving the Potter boy and the Weasley boy a strained smile.

"(Y-Y/N)... Rose..wood...?" My words trailed off, wondering if I got Alem's-- I mean, our surname right. If Alem's my brother then I'm pretty sure I have the same surname as he does. 

"...Pleasure." Weasley boy nodded slowly before giving me a look of discomfort.

Oh boy, looks like I've already made someone uncomfortable on the first day.

And we're not even inside the school yet.

No one dared to say a word as the boat kept floating towards an ominous building that resembles that of a large castle. 

Multiple boats were also floating around and almost everyone seems to have fun. 

Except probably that one seemingly chubby kid who almost tripped himself down to the water.

And this boat.

I glance over at Alem who has his eyes narrowed and his eyebrows furrowed angrily. He was looking at someone and I look over to where he was looking. 

In another boat, there was a pale skinned boy with platinum blonde hair that was slicked back. I hold back a chuckle once I started to wonder how much gel he had to use.

But,

I look back at Alem who still keeps his eyes on that gel kid. 

_Why is he angry at him?_   
_Did that kid do something to Alem?_

I shrug and buried my face deeper behind my back, knowing that I wouldn't know the answer even if I tried. 

Curse me for losing my memory.

The boat halted to a stop and everyone started to walk towards the castle. Standing in front of the large doors was an old lady who had a very intimidating aura around her. 

Even though she looks old, her head was held high as she examined every single one of us like a predator choosing for its next prey. 

A teacher, maybe?

I inched closer towards Alem and held his hand tightly. He was standing right beside Potter boy and Weasley boy, who had worried and concerned looks written all over their faces. 

Alem looked at our interlinked hands and at me. He didn't say anything and just looked back at the teacher.

"Good evening, students. I am Professor McGonagall, deputy headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." As soon as those words left Professor McGonagall's mouth, I started to choke on my spit, interrupting her speech. 

All of the students and Professor McGonagall looked at me with eyebrows raised.

"E-Excuse me, did... did you just say Witchcraft and Wizardry?" I ask, almost wanting to feel like I want to just curl up into a ball and shrink for eternity while waiting for my demise for doing such an embarrassing action. 

"Yes, you heard right. Did I say something wrong?" Professor McGonagall asked, shooting glares towards me while I frantically shook my head and waved my hands around.

"N-No, Professor... I... It was nothing at all..." The rest of the students started to giggle and snicker at me, making my grip on Alem's hand become tight as I looked down to the ground with a heavy blush of shame. 

Professor McGonagall stayed silent for a moment before opening her mouth to speak once more.

"Before you enter, I would like to adress first that each and everyone of you will be sorted out and divided into four houses; Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. During your time here at Hogwarts, your house will be just like your family. Any form of wrongdoings will cause you to lose points for your house but do well on your studies and you will earn points for your house." Professor McGonagall stated while I just formed a thin line on my mouth considering that I finally understood something for once.

"All points that your house have earned will be tallied--"

"Trevor!" A voice interrupted Professor McGonagall's speech once more and that chubby kid who I saw earlier took a hold of a toad that was sitting right in front of the Professor. 

The boy looked up and saw Professor McGonagall looking down at him with a hardcore death glare. With a strained smile, he crawled back inside the crowd of first years.

I openly cringe at how he was able to hold a toad. 

I'm not scared of them, just mildly disgusted.

"...at the end of the school year. The house that earns the most points will win the House Cup." The Professor continued as if nothing happened before turning around, her robe fluttering into the air for a short while as she did so.

"Please wait here for a moment." After that, Professor McGonagall walked back inside, leaving the rest of us to start chattering just until she comes back. 

"Gee, wasn't she so scary..." I mumbled, looking back at Alem with my face scrunched up in discomfort.

"So it's true then, what they're saying on the train." A voice came from behind us but I don't think it was meant for us. But, I turned around and so did Alem. 

I noticed his hand gripping mine tightly as he saw who it was. I silently wince but didn't say anything about it. 

It was that platinum blonde haired gel kid that was on the boat earlier.

Behind him were two short boys, kind of acting like a bodyguard. I roll my eyes at this. 

"The famous Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts." The gel kid said, smirking at Harry. 

Okay, now I understand why Alem dislikes this kid.

"This is Crabbe, this is Goyle" He introduced his two lackeys standing behind him, having the same annoying smirk that he has.

"And I'm Malfoy," He said, walking over to Potter boy.

"Draco Malfoy." He finally said his full name and I had the urge to laugh but I had to put my hand over my mouth to stifle my chuckles. 

In the corner of my eye, I saw Weasley boy doing the same thing. 

Malfoy shot Weasley kid and I a glare.

"You think my name's funny, do you? I don't need to know yours; red hair, hand-me-down robes?" Malfoy kid scoffed before continuing. 

"You must be a Weasley." The Weasley boy's face turned red in anger while Malfoy kid looked at me and scoffed once more.

"And what do we have here; the infamous Rosewood twins?" Malfoy kid smirks while I just cocked my head to the side, confused. 

"I see that you're still dumb as ever. Well, that's what you get when you associate yourselves with muggles." Just as Alem was about to pounce Malfoy kid to the ground, I opened my mouth to speak.

"I think we both know who's the dumb one between the two of us, gel kid." The crowd that was watching the entire scene was trying to stifle their laughs as soon as I finished talking to the Malfoy kid. 

He narrows his eyes at me before turning back to look at Harry.

"You'll find that some wizarding families are better than others, Potter." Malfoy says, smirking once more at the raven haired boy.

"You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort." He shot us and Weasley another glare and I was immediately offended. I think Weasley boy was too.

"I can help you there." He turns his eyes back to Harry and extends his hand out for him to shake but all Harry did was to look at the hand for a short while before looking back at Malfoy kid. 

"I think I can tell the wrong sort for myself, thanks." Harry brushes Malfoy kid's hand away from him with his own. 

"Must be embarrassing to be rejected by the Boy who Lived, eh?" I wiggled my eyebrows as Alem looked at me with disbelief. 

Malfoy kid clicked his tongue before walking away with his two croonies, obviously embarrassed that Harry rejected him. 

"...I thought you said that you don't know who Harry Potter is..." Alem's voice was low while looking at me intently. 

"...Uh what?"

"You just called him 'The Boy Who Lived'." 

"Yeah, so?"

"It's-- ugh, nevermind..." Alem grumbled under his breath while I kept looking at him curiously. What does calling Harry by 'The Boy Who Lived' has to do with knowing him? 

Suddenly, McGonagall came out of the large doors but didn't fully come out.

"Please follow me for the sorting." The large doors opened which caused me to take my entire breath away.

The interior is larger than I expected and everything just feels so surreal. I can't believe that I'm attending a school for doing magic stuff. 

_Just a while ago, I was attending a normal school with a bunch of math equations._

...

_Wait, how do I know that?_

"What house do you want to be sorted in, (Y/N)?" I jumped once I heard Alem's voice snapping me back to reality. 

Behind him was Potter and Weasley talking to each other, possibly about the houses. 

"Uh... I don't know... Whichever's cool I guess..." I rub my forearm, looking to the side.

"...Didn't you always say that you've always wanted to be sorted into Ravenclaw?" Alem narrows his eyes at me, crossing his arms at the proccess. 

"Did I?" I look back at him, my eyebrow raised. Alem sighs as he loosened his arms. 

"I hope that this isn't true but did you lose your memory or something?" 

"I... think so. I wasn't even able to remember this school or you or anything that I'm supposed to remember. It's really... weird." As soon as those words spilled out of my mouth, another set of large doors opened which took another set of my breath away.

Multiple candles floated around the ceiling and the ceiling wasn't even like a ceiling. It was foggy but it greatly resembled like the night sky as multiple white twinkling things were around it. 

I think it was supposed to be like stars but still, it's very beautiful.

Four long and large tables were placed across the hall and they were full of students that were obviously older than us. 

At the very front of the hall sat the other professors. 

At least I think they are professors.

One was wearing a turban and he seemed very meek and shy, one was stone faced as if he was so done with everything that happened in life.

I looked away, having enough of observing everything in the hall. 

"Well, what house do you want to be sorted in?" I ask Alem, who was sweatdropping. He would be lying if he said that he isn't nervous about this sorting thing. 

"...Gryffindor." He replied then looked at me with a small smile.

"Also, don't worry about it. I'm sure your memories will return back to you later or maybe tomorrow." He turned around but the smile disappeared from his face. 

"But, it's strange; I mean, you just lost your memory all of a sudden... No explanations as to why. I thought that you were just playing with me but," A sigh escaped his lips. 

"Anyway, I'll do the best as I can to help you regain your memories. Also, I won't tell Mom anything about you losing your memories. If I did then she'd freak out." 

I chuckle and ruffled his (H/C) hair. 

"Thanks, bro! I'm counting on you!" Alem yelped and tried to pry my hands away from his hair. Surprisingly, it had a soft texture. 

"Keep your hands off of my hair, (Y/N)!" 

* * *

Harry and Ron watched the entire scene happening right in front of them. 

"Do you think that those two are always like this?" Ron sweatdropped as Alem bit on (Y/N)'s hand like an angry little puppy. 

The (H/C) haired boy/girl was the one to yelp this time while pushing Alem away from their hand.

"I think so but it doesn't look like they were that close when we were with them on the boat." Harry shrugged but remembered (Y/N)'s bizzare first impression. 

They were all stuttering and acted like they don't know a single thing that's currently happening yet here they are, fighting for their lives and causing loud noises.

As if the bustling noises of every first years aren't noisy enough.

They even managed to make Ron uncomfortable. But, what got Harry intrigued was the fact that they don't even know who he is. 

Almost everyone who met him knows who he is but they were different. 

"Hey, what do you think of them?" Harry look over at Ron as he silently gestured towards (Y/N). Harry's red haired friend cringed slightly and sighed afterwards. 

"Well, they're pretty weird and I don't mean like normal kind of weird. Like, very weird. They don't even know that you exist." Ron stuffed another candy down to their mouth while telling Harry what he thinks about (Y/N).

"I'm okay with them not knowing who I am. It's way better actually. But, yeah, they are pretty weird." He shrugs, watching the Rosewood twins continue to bite each other's faces off. 

"Hey, if she asked you to be their--" Harry was cut off as Ron already knew what he was going to ask. 

The Weasley almost spat the candy out of his mouth but thankfully, he didn't.

"What, are you kidding? No way! I'd rather be with that Granger girl rather than be with them!" Ron looked offended but Harry only laughed, brushing his question off as a joke. 

The two stole one last glance at the Rosewood twins before sighing. 

It would've been fine if it was Alem but (Y/N) is...

They really didn't make a good first impression, did they?

Well, they have no choice anyway. The story has to continue after all.

After a while, Professor McGonagall entered the Great Hall with a worn down hat held within her hands. 

Multiple patches were stitched around the hat, indicating that it had been ripped once or twice in some occassion. 

The first years grew silent and soon, the entire hall became silent as Professor McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat down a stool.

After a while, the hat itself broke into a song. (Y/N)'s eyes widened as they didn't expect a hat to just sing but then again, this is a school that has 'witchcraft' and 'wizardry' in its name. 

What else did they expect?

_**Oh you may not think I'm pretty,** _   
_**But don't judge on what you see,** _   
_**I'll eat myself if you can find** _   
_**A smarter hat than me.** _

_**You can keep your bowlers back,** _   
_**Your top hats sleek and tall,** _   
_**For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat** _   
_**And I can cap them all.** _

_**There's nothing hidden in your head** _   
_**The Sorting Hat can't see,** _   
_**So try me on and I will tell you** _   
_**Where you ought to be.** _

_**You might belong in Gryffindor,** _   
_**Where dwell the brave at heart,** _   
_**Their daring, nerve, and chivalry** _   
_**Set Gryffindors apart;** _

_**You might belong in Hufflepuff,** _   
_**Where they are just and loyal,** _   
_**Those patient Hufflepuffs are true** _   
_**And unafraid of toil;** _

_**Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,** _   
_**if you've a ready mind,** _   
_**Where those of wit and learning,** _   
_**Will always find their kind;** _

_**Or perhaps in Slytherin,** _   
_**You'll make your real friends,** _   
_**Those cunning folks use any means** _   
_**To achieve their ends.** _

_**So put me on! Don't be afraid!** _   
_**And don't get in a flap!** _   
_**You're in safe hands (though I have none)** _   
_**For I'm a Thinking Cap!** _

As the song finally ended, everyone clapped their hands, even Alem. Harry and Ron gave off a large sigh of relief to which (Y/N) heard. 

"So, they were just going to place the hat on our heads to sort us out!" Harry chuckled, relieved that he doesn't need to do any magic stuff to be sorted since he practically doesn't even know how to do magic yet.

The hat sung every single traits that each houses had which caused them to wonder why they wanted to be in Ravenclaw. Something deep in their gut told them that they weren't all that smart and resourceful. 

They thought that they'd fit in with Slytherin well but knowing the negative popularity of the house slightly discouraged the (H/C) haired boy/girl since they'd probably get looked down upon.

(Y/N)'s eyes widened, looking at the palm of their hands. 

How were they able to know that Slytherin wasn't all that liked in Hogwarts? 

A small spark of hope coursed through their entire body as a smile unknowingly crept up to their lips. Maybe their memories are coming back. 

If they keep this up then they'll probably have all of their memories back by tomorrow.

"I'll get back on Fred and George later for telling me that we'll have to fight trolls to get sorted." The Weasley grumbled angrily, glancing over at the Gryffindor table to see if he could catch the twins' teasing looks.

(Y/N) shuddered at the thought of having to fight magical creatures on their first day at school. 

They don't even know how to do magic yet-- or, to be more precise, they don't even remember how to do magic.

Professor McGonagall then rolls out a parchment that contained the names of each first year students' names. 

"Once I call your name, please step to the front." She stated before glancing down at the parchment to read the first name.

"Hannah Abott." As soon as the first name left Professor McGonagall's lips, a short girl with small pigtails walked up to the front and sat on the stool after Professor McGonagall removed the hat from the stool and placed it above Hannah's head.

The hat moved, thinking deeply for a moment while Hannah looked up to the hat in amazement and wonder. 

It almost seemed like the hat and Hannah were talking telepathically. "Hufflepuff!" The hat roared out as the Hufflepuff table cheered loudly for their new member. 

Professor McGonagall removed the hat from her head as Hannah dashed towards the Hufflepuff table. 

The same procedure went for a few minutes later and (Y/N) grew more and more nervous as time keeps ticking by. 

Soon enough, Professor McGonagall will call out for their name and a bunch of people will have to look at them, maybe some will even talk about how they looks like or maybe even how short they were.

Maybe that's just their social anxiety talking to them.

"Hermione Granger." (Y/N) just noticed a girl who had an extremely curly hair with the color of brown. 

They thought that they looked pretty even with their looks that could definitely kill someone. 

Hermione mumbled something under her breath before walking up to the front and sat down the stool as Professor McGonagall placed the hat on their head.

"Gryffindor!" It didn't really take her all that much time to get sorted. With a beaming smile, Hermione walked towards the cheering Gryffindor table.

_Hufflepuff!_   
_Ravenclaw!_   
_Slytherin!_   
_Slytherin!_   
_Gryffindor!_

"Neville Longbottom." Neville, whom (Y/N) recognized earlier, clumsily walked up to the front and sat down. 

The hat thought deeply for a moment and it seemed like eternity passed by until, "Gryffindor!" The hat shouted. 

Neville's face paled as he pursed his lips and walked hesitantly towards the Gryffindor table, who welcomed him with open arms.

He obviously didn't expect himself to be in Gryffindor.

"Draco Malfoy." (Y/N) and Alem openly scrunched their face in total discomfort at the mention of the name to which Draco had noticed and sneered at the Rosewood twins. 

Harry and Ron glanced over at the two and chuckled slightly at the look of their faces. Draco sat down the stool and before Professor McGonagall could even fully place the hat on his head, the hat already shouted out. "Slytherin!" 

"Well, figures. No Malfoy had ever been sorted anywhere else except Slytherin." Alem shrugged as Draco walked towards the Slytherin table with his head held high and a wide smirk apparent on his lips. 

(Y/N) rolled their eyes at the huge ego that Draco carried on his shoulders and how they wanted to wipe that smirk away from his face.

"Harry Potter." The room grew silent and whispers could be heard around the Great Hall as Harry's name was called. 

(Y/N) just put up a deadpanned look since they didn't really care much for Harry's popularity considering that they forgot who Harry even is. 

(Y/N) caught a glimpse of Dumbledore shuffling slightly in his seat as Harry walked up to the front and this caused them to raise one of their eyebrows in curiosity.

The raven haired boy slowly walked up to the front and sat on the stool. Professor McGonagall placed the hat on his head. 

Harry mumbled something repetitively under his breath but it was inaudible so (Y/N) didn't understand anything that he was saying. 

"Gryffindor!" After what seemed to be like an eternity, the hat shouted out and Harry grinned happily, running towards the Gryffindor table who had loud cheers that can shake the entire Great Hall to the ground. 

(Y/N) thought that the Gryffindors were happy to have such a famous figure in their house.

Few sortings happened here and there until, 

"Alem Rosewood." They looked over at their shaking brother and smirked, patting their back as a sign of reassurance. 

Alem glanced over at their older brother/sister and shot them a glare before walking up to the front. 

As the hat was placed down on his head, Alem tried to compose himself by taking small deep breaths.

"Slytherin!" The hat shouted and Alem had a look of disbelief as he looked at (Y/N) who had their mouth hung agape at the Sorting Hat's decision to sort Alem in the Slytherin house. 

Alem, knowing that he can't do anything, went to the Slytherin table who welcomed him. 

The (H/C) haired boy sent the Slytherins a strained smile and avoided Draco as much as possible. 

"It's a pleasure to be in the same house as you, Rosewood." Draco smirked at the uncomfortable Alem. 

He knew that he can't make a horrible first impression to the rest of his new peers so instead of sending him a glare, Alem grinned forcefully.

"The pleasure's all mine, Malfoy." Alem spoke through gritted teeth as he sat down across Draco.

"(Y/N) Rosewood." (Y/N) internally hyperventilated and internally screamed, putting up a forced smile as they walked up to the front and sat down. 

Professor McGonagall placed the hat on their head and (Y/N) definitely didn't expect a voice to come out of the hat once it was placed on their head.

"Ah, another Rosewood, I see... But, you're slightly different from your parents and your brother... You definitely outsmart your brother and I can tell that you're an intelligent individual however... Ravenclaw? No, that's not it..." (Y/N) pursed their lips, looking at Alem who was snickering at how they looked so uncomfortable. 

The (H/C) haired girl/boy glared at their brother and promised to kill them after the sorting was done. 

"You hesitate in every single thing that could endager in life and would rather not take the risk unless you really need to. However, you do have a soft heart and wish to help those who need it but placing you in Hufflepuff would be... No... There's this inner desire that drives you to do anything you need to do to get what you want, surpassing your hesitation in taking risks... Hm, interesting. A troublemaker and an aggressive one at times, eh?" (Y/N) felt the urge to take the hat off since it's basically listing every traits that they considered to be quite embarrassing. 

I mean, it's not everyday you experience a talking hat to tell you that you have such traits.

"If that's what it is then..." 

"Slytherin!" The hat shouted and Alem's look of discomfort loosened once he saw (Y/N) looking at him with a smile. 

As Professor McGonagall removed the hat, (Y/N) walked over to the Slytherin table and they were immediately greeted by other Slytherins who welcomed them with a smile.

(Y/N) greeted them back and sat next to Alem. 

"Well, I guess this is better than nothing, right?" (Y/N) grinned and Alem lightly smacked their forearm, causing them to look at their brother with an offended look and their grin disappeared from their face. 

"Hey, what was that for!?" They exclaim, pouting in the process.

"Nothing, I just wanted to do it." Alem grinned back at his sister/brother but (Y/N) grumbled, looking away from their brother. 

"Am I watching two siblings acting lovey dovey to each other?" Draco smirked, obviously teasing the two Rosewood twins. Alem huffed in anger, turning away from (Y/N). 

(Y/N) turned to look at Draco with a deadpanned look.

"Mind your own business, gel kid." The Slytherins who heard (Y/N) let out a chuckle but Draco definitely didn't. 

Instead, a look of fury and anger was written all over his face. 

"My father will hear about this!" Draco attempted to threat (Y/N) but all that he recieved was a scoff as a smirk made its way to their lips. 

"Running to your daddy when nothing goes your way? My, how much of a kid can you get, Malfoy?" The chuckles eventually turned into lighthearted laughs and Alem even managed to crack a smirk at his older sibling's horrible comebacks. 

Draco, red faced and teeth gritted, turned away from (Y/N).

Does he seriously have to deal with that kind of person throughout his entire year here at Hogwarts?

_"Unfortunately yes, Draco."_

The platinum blonde haired boy shot his head up and looked around in a frantic state. He just heard someone talking to him. Their voice wasn't all that distant but not close either.

He turned towards Crabbe, who sat beside him, with narrowed eyes. 

"Did you just say something?" Draco sneered and Crabbe immediately shook his head.

"I didn't say anything!" Though unsure, Draco bought it anyway and turned towards Goyle. The boy also shook his head. 

"I didn't say anything either!" 

With a huff, Draco looked away from the two and his eyes landed upon a figure standing just beside Dumbledore. 

Although they were standing right beside Dumbledore, it seems that even he didn't notice the mysterious figure standing right beside him and frankly, no one really noticed them except Draco.

The figure buried their hands inside their orange hoodie as an all knowing smile crept up on their lips. 

The boy squinted his eyes to try and get a closer look at the figure but when he blinked, they were gone. 

Its as if no one was standing right beside Dumbledore the whole time.

It's as if he just imagined the whole scenario.

"What just happened...?" He mumbled to himself as he turned to look at the Rosewood twins just to see what they're doing right now. 

But, what he saw caused him to grow even more confused as (Y/N) also looked at the same direction where Draco once looked but only with a horrified expression written all over their face.

* * *

Memories came flooding into my mind as I saw that figure who stood beside Dumbledore with a smile on their face. 

All I remembered was their hand extending out towards mine and I shook it then fell to the ground with a thud. 

I immediately looked over at the Gryffindor table and saw Harry laughing along with Ron and Hermione. 

I have seen them before, I have known them before but I just don't know where. 

This place, this entire scenario with the Sorting gave me a strong sense of deja vu and it felt like there was something missing... something that I need to do before the school year ends.

_But, what was it?_

A chill ran down my spine as I tried to remember. 

It's like, my body doesn't even want to remember what it was yet there was something deep inside me that urges me to do it to avoid certain consequences. 

A familiar surge of pain flashed through my eyes and in instinct, I held my head and groaned in pain. 

Alem immediately noticed this and leaned closer for my aid. 

"(Y/N), what's wrong?" He held my shoulder for support as I suddenly felt dizzy. My breaths became shallow and slow as seconds keep passing by.

I heard Alem gasp loudly, with his eyes growing wide as well. 

"(Y-Y/N), your... your eyes..." His voice wobbled slightly as he shakily points his finger towards my eyes. I looked at him curiously even though I maintained my strained and painful expression.

_"They're red..."_

* * *

They grin wickedly while taking the lollipop out of their mouth, creating a soft 'pop' sound. 

"Be careful, (Y/N)." They place the lollipop back inside their mouth to savor the sweet flavor of the candy even more as they stood up from a rooftop that had the perfect view of the Great Hall. 

In the Slytherin table, (Y/N) fainted in Alem's arms, which caused a great commotion in the table as Alem excused himself and (Y/N) from the hall. 

The head of Slytherin, Severus Snape, followed the Rosewood twins out of the hall and towards the Infirmary.

They shoved their hands inside the pockets of their hoodie as they turned around. 

"The longer you wait, the more powerful it becomes." Snickering, they take a step out of the roof and fell down with their strawberry blonde hair flowing through the wind. 

Just as the ground was about to meet their face, a thick gust of wind enveloped their entire body before they disappeared on sight.

* * *

**❝The truth is incontrovertible.**   
**Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it,**   
**But in the end, there it is.❞**


	4. I - III: 「A Close Call」

**❝How the hell have you not learned yet that I am a jealous psychopath?❞**

* * *

I felt my legs wobble slightly as I try to keep (Y/N) falling from my back. They do weigh a lot even though they're small. 

I would glance over at the head of the Slytherin house, Professor Snape, from time to time. I didn't dare to speak because I was too intimidated to do so.

"What caused them to faint?" Professor Snape asked and broke the silence between us. I stammered for a moment before answering his question while looking down the floor. 

"I..don't know, Professor. But, for a moment, their eyes turned red before they fainted." I replied but after I replied, silence grew between the two of us once more.

I'm really doing a great first impression, aren't I?

Professor Snape stopped in front of a certain door. He swiftly opens the door and it revealed the Infirmary. 

Before I could admire how large the Infirmary is, Professor Snape walked inside and I followed shortly behind him.

I started to become tired as I adjusted (Y/N) behind my back to make sure that they wouldn't fall. Their entire weight was pushing down to my back and I'm pretty sure that I'll end up having a back stroke once I'm finished with all of this.

A female figure stepped out from behind the curtains, a small frown and a confused look on her face. She was wearing white colored clothes that greatly resembled like muggle healers. 

What do they call them again? Nurses?

Her hair was tied into a bun with some sort of a hair net enveloping her bun completely. 

"A student fainted." Is all that Professor Snape said to the mediwitch. She gasped lightly and immediately went to my side, eyeing (Y/N)'s unconscious body. 

"It's only the first day and someone already fainted?" Her frown grew wider, looking at Professor Snape with obvious doubt.

"I have duties to attend to. Please tend our new student with care." Professor Snape ignored the mediwitch's question of doubt and turned around to leave, his robe following his movement majestically. 

The doors to the Infirmary opened but was immediately closed as Professor Snape left the room without anything else to say.

The mediwitch sighed and turned to look at me. 

"Could you lay them down on the bed first? I'll prepare myself for a little bit then examine them to see what went wrong." She requested and of course, I complied with a quick nod. 

She turns around and walks towards her desk full of vials, potions and other stuff that seems to be a little dangerous for me to know about.

I walk over to the nearest bed and to its side. I turned around and tip toed closely towards the bed so that (Y/N)'s body will lay down on the bed. 

Once I made sure that their body was on the bed, I turned around and kept my firm hold at their shoulder and the back of their head. I gently lay them down on the bed and retracted both of my hands away from their body.

With a sigh of relief, I stretched and stood up straight to make my back feel better after being slouched just to carry (Y/N) for a long amount of time towards the Infirmary. 

My bones internally pop and I gave off another sigh of relief. I kept my posture straight so that my back will get used to being straight once more.

But, I couldn't resist sitting on the chair that was right beside me.

After a short while, the mediwitch came back but she didn't bring anything with her to examine (Y/N) which I thought was sort of weird.

"Um, Miss--"

"Call me 'Madam Pomfrey'" She interrupted while placing her hand against (Y/N)'s forehead, indicating that (Y/N) might just have a fever.

"...Madam Pomfrey, is my brother/sister going to be alright?" I asked as the worry and concern that I kept inside me while I carried (Y/N) to the Infirmary started to show.

"Well, considering that they fainted, I suppose that they will be alright after they wake up. Faints are not usually serious because it's just your body forcing itself to shut down to be able to rest and function properly once more or to recover from a certain occurence that might've been too much for the body to take it." Madam Pomfrey removed her hand from (Y/N)'s forehead, taking it as a sign that they might not have fever after all. 

The mediwitch turns to look at me. "Do you know why they fainted?"

"Regrettably, I don't. But, I do know that their eyes turned red before they fainted." I explained and Madam Pomfrey's eyebrow rose in confusion.

"Their eyes turned red... You mean like they were being posessed by someone?"

"Oh, gee... I hope not but I guess because they suddenly lost their memories once we arrived at the train. It's like... they lost their entire identity and was being replaced by a new one..." My eyes widened at the realization as I turned my head to look at (Y/N). 

Doesn't this mean that they were really possessed by someone?

But, they weren't all that different when they got 'possessed' because they still act like what they would usually do; like what the real (Y/N) would do which means that they are still there somewhere. 

It's the memory loss that's making them different.

My eyes softened and I regained my composure, grasping (Y/N)'s warm hand. 

"No, they... just lost their memories."

"Obliviated?" Madam Pomfrey asked and I shook my head.

"It's impossible for them to be obliviated since they lost their memories in the middle of the train and we both haven't left our compartments since we boarded the train."

"But, it's impossible for them to lose their memories all of a sudden, right? Did something happen before you boarded the train?"

"No. They were all fine even before we boarded the train..."

After that, none of us spoke a word. We just kept staring at the unconscious (Y/N) with worry. Before things became awkward, Madam Pomfrey stood up and gave me a look of reassurance. 

"Either way, I'm sure that they will be fine once they wake up. You should head back to the Great Hall." Madam Pomfrey smiled and turned around to leave the two of us alone.

I pursed my lips and glanced over at (Y/N)'s face before looking back at Madam Pomfrey's retreating form. 

"Would it be troublesome if I stayed here? I... don't want to leave them alone..." I blushed slightly as I looked away in embarrassment and my words began to trail off.

Madam Pomfrey turned back to look at me. 

"No, but you might miss the feast and you might not know where your common room is." She warned but I shook my head with a smile.

"I'll choose my sister/brother over a feast any day, Madam Pomfrey."

A smile made its way to her lips as she nodded and walked away from the two of us. After she disappeared completely from our sight, I turn back to look at (Y/N)'s face. 

Just a while ago, their face was filled with fear and disbelief but now, they look so peaceful and calm as if there was nothing to worry about.

Today was such a rough day for the two of us and I guess they deserve all the rest they could possibly get right now. I sigh and crossed my arms as I leaned back against the chair. 

I guess I can't have any rest at all, can I?

* * *

_My body felt like I was drowning in water; I was heavy, I couldn't breathe, it felt like I'm sinking down but I can't do anything to keep myself up._

_My lungs were starting to burn and my eyes were shot open as I reached my arms out to nothingness, demanding for air to freely enter my body once more._

_It was starting to hurt and I was starting to panic, as I looked around my dark surroundings for any signs of hope or light that could help me survive this hellish situation._

_But, I couldn't find any._

_As soon as my brain was starting to shut itself down due to the lack of oxygen, I was suddenly slammed down to the dark ground with a loud thud which made me groan in pain._

_I try to breathe through my nostrils and felt my body ease in satisfaction once I felt the sweet, whiff of air enter my nose and circle my body._

_I've never been this thankful for air to enter my body before._

_As soon as I finished breathing deeply and returned my breathing patterns back to normal, I stand up and whipped my head around in every direction for any signs of where I am right now._

_I frowned, there was nothing in this darkness and honestly, it was starting to scare me._

_When all of a sudden,_

_"Our child, (F/N)! Our goddamn child!" A shrill voice echoed around the dark, empty space, causing me to turn around with a surprised look at my face to look for the owner of the voice._

_In the distance, I could see two figures standing in front of each other and their distance not to close yet not to far from each other either._

_I couldn't see them all that well to describe their features though I could definitely tell that they were angry and shouting with each other._

_I began to step closer as my footsteps echoed around the dark space though the two figures in the distance can't really hear any of it because they didn't turn around and notice me._

_As soon as I could see their features and their faces, I stopped dead in my tracks with my eyes widened in both fear and surprise._

_I... I know them._

_I turned to look at the woman. She had (E/C) eyes and a completely disheveled jet black hair. Bits and strands of her hair was sticking out in every ends, even getting into her face which made her look more messy._

_She also wore a dirty cream white shirt. Some parts in the shirt were either torn off or patched up together with different kinds of cloth that she could find._

_While she also wore tattered jeans that seemed to fit into her legs. Unlike the rest of the woman's clothes, her jeans was the only piece of clothing that looked nice._

_Her skin isn't in the best condition either; multiple bruises, injuries and cuts could be seen around her body though there are also bandages and band aids plastered around her fingers, her face and her wrists._

_"M-Mom?" I called out, feeling memories whiplash through my mind as I suddenly remember my own family and how it actually was._

_"Who cares about that fucking brat!?" My father- No,_

_I refuse to call him that._

_The man shouted back even though his voice was surly, throwing his empty bottle of beer to the ground with such force that it broke into pieces on contact._

_Both my mother and I flinched at the sound of the man and at the sound of the bottle shattering down to the ground._

_Even though I wasn't standing right next to him, I could definitely smell the alcohol lingering around the air that came from this pathetic excuse of a father._

_I hate him._

_I hate him so much._

_He stumbled back slightly due to his actions but immediately catches himself before he could actually fall down on his back._

_"And you call yourself a father!?" My mother's voice cracked for a second as she shouted back at the man with full force._

_It looked like she was about to cry in front of him but knowing my mother, I know that she wouldn't cry and act so weak in front of him._

_She knows that he loved his dominance around the house and acting weak will make him hurt us even more._

_"I never wanted to be a father! If only you were smart enough to kill that child, then everything would've went well for the two of us!" He screamed at my mother's place and pointed his finger behind him which made me remember that I was in my room, crying and shutting everything else down when this fight happened._

_I turned to where my father was pointing and saw my 5 year old self crouching, back turned against the two and ears covered by my small, injured hands._

_With a frown, I walk over to them since I didn't want to listen to my parents' fight and bickering anymore._

_As soon as I reached my 5 year old self, I didn't do anything but stare at their crouched yet cowering form._

_I began to chuckle sadly as I sat down and leaned my back against my 5 year old self, glancing over at my parents at the distance who are still fighting and screaming at each other's faces as if tomorrow didn't exist._

_"How were you able to grow up in this shitty life that you were thrown in, hm?" I asked, mostly directed to my 5 year old self though I'm pretty sure that they couldn't hear the question._

_I don't expect them to._

_"How dare you come up to me and say something like that!? It's your fault that we ended up like this in the first place!" My mother slapped a dirty piece of clothing onto his chest in a repetitive manner though she knows that it wouldn't do much._

_She was showing signs of frustration mixed with rage on her face but didn't show her weakness to this man._

_"Oh, so it's my fault now, huh!?" The man balled up his fists and raised them. My mother shivered and took a step back as the man slammed his fist down to my mother's cheek._

_I simply closed my eyes to escape the horrible sight of the man beating up my mother even though the sounds of my mother wailing and groaning in pain made it harder to concentrate away from it._

_Amidst this chaos, I was starting to remember everything that happened in my childhood with my parents._

_It wasn't enjoyable to say the least._

_"I'm not weak!" My eyes snapped open at the sound of a familiar voice echoing around the dark space._

_The same sound of flesh being punched can still be heard though it wasn't as strong as it was before._

_In the distance, I could see a familiar patch of (H/C) hair straddling a young girl while holding her throat down with their left hand and punching her face down with her right._

_The (H/C) haired child's eyes were narrowed in anger but showed no signs of guilt or regret by beating up a girl with their bare right fist._

_My lips started to part ever so slightly as I stood up and walked towards the child with half-lidded (E/C) eyes that matched theirs although their eyes were much more vicious and filled with resentment than mine._

_"I'm not abandoned!" A younger version of myself threw another punch at the young girl who could only wail in pain as she was scratching and grasping on to my left hand that was holding her throat down to stop._

_I pursed my lips and began to feel uncomfortable seeing my childhood self beating someone up though I do remember doing something like this to every single children to teased me for not having a parent._

_"S-Sto..." The young girl gasped out in pain. As I leaned over to take a look at her, I cringed. Her cheeks and her left eye was bruised and blood was starting to seep out of her nose._

_She held an apologetic yet fearful look as she stared up at my younger self, who held no remorse whatsoever for beating up one of their peers._

_"I... am," My frown deepened as my younger self raised their fists up to throw another punch at the young girl, who could only stare up at them with such fear._

_"Not a failure!" Younger (Y/N) shouted and collided her fists straight in the young girl's noise. A small sickening sound of a nose being broken caused me to cringe._

_No pleads, wails or groans of pain can be heard from the young girl which made me assume that she passed out._

_Or died, probably._

_I couldn't remember much about this particular girl since I used to beat up so many children before that I couldn't care less if they died or not._

_Younger (Y/N) pants heavily and removed themselves from the young girl but kept their angry (E/C) eyes on her just in case she wakes up again so they'll beat them up once more._

_The younger version of myself didn't show any anger after that. Instead, they just held an empty look as they hang their head down low._

_I couldn't see their face that well due to the bangs covering up their eyes._

_"My mom will come back... I know she will..." My younger self muttered, slightly glancing down at the bloodied and rough right hand._

_"She has to come back... She has to..." My younger self began to clutch both sides of their head, not minding that their bloodied right hand is making their (H/C) hair dirty._

_"She..." They muttered once more but with fear. It seemed like memories were starting to flash right before their eyes as they stared at the unconscious body of the young girl._

_"She's..." Their trembling, wobbling voice became silent while they dropped both of their arms to their sides._

_Another set of memories have been returned back to me in a flash, causing me to chuckle and wallow in self-pity as I watched my younger self look up, their bangs still covering their face._

_"She's never coming back..." My younger self chuckled sadly, my (E/C) eyes slightly glowing in both resentment and guilt through my (H/C) bangs that it scared me even though we're technically the same person._

_My younger self disappeared, along with the young girl, into thin air. It's almost like they were never there in the first place._

_But, the silence and the darkness was too aggravating and I couldn't take it. I never liked being alone but sucked it up because I knew I couldn't do anything about it._

_So, I lived through the loneliness and gave up, abandoning everything from my life and starting a new one._

_Needless to say, the "new" life isn't that great either._

_It's average, boring, forgettable and it makes me want to kill myself because I realized that I can't even escape the loneliness that keeps lingering around my life for a very long time._

_Unable to take it any longer, I shut my eyes and ran away to wherever my legs could take me. I'm so vulnerable right now but I just wanted to ease myself away from the reminders and the pain for a little while._

_I just wanted to let some of that rotten water out of my jar so there's more space for me to fill in new ones._

**_"I love you."_ **   
**_"I love you."_ **   
**_"I love you."_ **   
**_"I love you."_ **

_The overlapping voices of people constantly telling me that they love me echo around the dark space._

_The word itself holds a lot of meaning but the way that they say it, the way that they express it is bitter._

_Bitter, bitter, bitter._

_Too bitter._

_There wasn't any love, no comfort, no desire and no truth. It was all lies. Their actions contradict to what they were saying. It's disgusting._

_The lies that people pushed down to my throat eventually made me cough up and choke their lies out. Its those people that I really, really hate._

_The only type of love that I want to feel again was like when my mother and I were still together without that pathetic excuse of a father ruining our lives with his shitty little face._

_But nothing... there was nothing in the average world that could replace that love for me to feel happy again and it frustrated me._

_I need it._

_I need something for me to keep on living._

_I need love and appreciation._

_"You want to be loved, don't you?" The familiar voice of that orange hoodie kid made me turn around expectantly, only to be greeted by a (H/C) haired figure standing right in front of me with their eyes filled with resentment and bitterness._

_They wore clean white clothes that it hurt my eyes because of how pure the carbon copy of myself looked like._

_However, their clothes didn't match their expression._

_The same expression that I had when I was thinking about the lies of love a while ago._

_Suddenly, the doppleganger's arms snaked up to my shoulders as they wrapped their soft yet small fingers around my neck._

_Their grip around my neck tightened but they kept their fiery (E/C) eyes on my fear filled ones as if they wanted to see me die right before their own hands and eyes._

_"So, (Y/N)..." Their chapped lips moved but their fingers also started to twist my neck sideways as I--_

* * *

"Wake up!"

I immediately opened my eyes and sat up. A throbbing pain started to emerge on my head and I slowly held my head to soothe the pain. 

What the hell just happened?

As soon as I began to recall all the previous events that happened, I removed my hand from my head and gasped lightly. 

I... met that child with the orange hoodie just a while ago after I fell asleep on my laptop...

Then, I ended up on the train without remembering anything that happened to me before that. Did they erase my memories of Harry Potter and my real life? 

But, how was I able to remember it all of the sudden?

Upon remembering the dream, I cringed slightly but felt confused for the most part. Maybe it was because of that horrible dream that I just had. 

Wait, did I just have a dream within a dream?

Is that even possible?

I noticed a small figure sitting on the edge of the bed right in front of me. It was the orange hoodie person. 

They winked teasingly before disappearing into thin air. 

They really love making things difficult for me, don't they?

"(Y/N) Rosewood!" I almost fell out of the bed once I heard a loud voice screaming right on my ears. 

"Who's dying and why!?" I exclaimed, holding my ears while looking around frantically. 

My eyes landed upon Alem, who had a look of anger yet tears were brimming on the corner of his eyes.

"...Why are you crying?" I monotoneously asked as I removed my hands from my ears. 

Before I can even tease him for crying, he tackled me to the bed which caught me off guard and we both fell on the bed with a creaking sound.

"I thought you were dead! You were unconscious for so long! When I came here to visit you, Madam Pomfrey told me that you were squirming and crying at the same time!" Alem exclaimed but his words were too fast for me to process. 

He was hugging me as if it's the end of the goddamn world and his tears were staining my robes.

I didn't say anything for a while until I recall Alem saying that I was unconscious for a long time. I immediately grasped both of his shoulders and lightly pushed him away from me. 

"W-Wait, how... long was I out exactly?" I stammered and I am definitely not ready for his answer because I fear that I was unconscious for a whole week. 

Wait, what if it's the end of the year and the hoodie person will come up and kill me!?

"Um.. 13 hours... I came here just after Professor McGonagall's class because there was still time before Professor Snape's--" Alem wasn't even able to finish his entire speech because I already screeched so hard that the whole Infirmary seemingly shook. 

Even though this is just a dream, I don't want to miss any chances of enjoying it!

"Alem, let's go! We're going to be late!" I screeched, grabbing Alem's hand and ran out of the Infirmary after I messily wore my shoes that was located right under the bed. 

I can hear Alem screaming for me to stop and asking me a bunch of questions I can't answer but I didn't stop and just kept on running. 

* * *

"And what is the difference between monkswood and wolfsbane?" Professor Snape asked the nervous Harry Potter with an emotionless look on his face. Hermione shot her hand up on the air, barely missing Harry's face as she did so. 

However, Professor Snape paid no attention to Hermione and kept staring at Harry for an answer.

Just as Harry was about to answer his question with sass and 'I don't know sir', just like his two previous answers to Professor Snape's sudden questions,

"I BITTERLY REGRET LILY'S DEATH, THE STOMACH OF A GOAT AND THEY'RE BOTH THE SAME." The door bursted open, revealing a messy haired (Y/N) with sweat clearly running down their faces and their working robes disheveled from head to toe.

Their shoes weren't even properly worn and their breathing was fast as their chest rose up and down to sync with the pattern of their breathing.

Behind them was Alem, who was kneeling down to the floor and breathing rapidly as well. Though he didn't look as messy and disheveled as (Y/N), he was sweating and looked hazardous. 

Alem's hand slipped away from (Y/N) and immediately went up to his chest to stabilize his breathing.

Silence engulfed the entire Potions classroom and the only thing that can be heard was (Y/N) and Alem's heavy breathings.

Harry stared at the Rosewood twins, especially (Y/N) with wide eyes and mouths hung agape. 

Were they waiting right behind the door just to make such a commotion because there was no possible way that they could've known the answers to Snape's questions to Harry.

"Miss/Mr Rosewood, I believe that interrupting the class with your sudden outbursts to help Mr. Potter is not necessary." Professor Snape leaned away from Harry and his attention was now on (Y/N), who was a blushing mess. 

On the corner of the room, Draco snickered and fought the urge to laugh at the scene that's unfolding in front of him.

"Uh... I... um..." (Y/N) stuttered, trying to find the right words to give Professor Snape an explanation for the sudden action. 

Alem looked mortified and wanted to just jump off a really tall building and die because the embarrassment and shame was overtaking him to an extreme.

"I will let it slide just once. Take this as a warning, Miss/Mr Rosewood and please make yourself look presentable." Professor Snape glanced up at the messy Slytherin from head to toe and slightly scrunched up at their appearance. 

It was only then that (Y/N) noticed that they weren't all well dressed when they ran out of the Infirmary. Their face turned as red as Ron's hair.

"Y-Yes, Professor..." (Y/N) looked away and fumbled through their fingers. 

"Mr Rosewood is to stay here and attend the class. Mr Malfoy will accompany you to the Slytherin common room. You two are excused." The Rosewood twins and Draco's mouth hung agape as they stared at the Potions teacher with disbelief.

The three knew that they can't change Professor Snape's mind when he decides something. 

Alem, though, is fighting his mind to see whether he should just act as a volunteer or just leave (Y/N) alone with Draco. 

(Y/N) didn't mind Draco's company now that their memories have returned but definitely didn't expect Professor Snape to do something like that. 

Draco looked highly uncomfortable but didn't dare to question the head of the Slytherin house.

Before Alem could even come up to a decision, Draco already went up to (Y/N) and sent the Rosewood twins a scornful look before beckoning the messy Slytherin out of the classroom.

Alem was about to open his mouth to object but immediately closed it and walked inside the Potions classroom with a defeated sigh.

(Y/N) gently closed the door and allowed the Potions class to continue without them. As soon as they closed it, they sighed heavily and walked towards the Slytherin common room with Draco.

"I can't believe I have to stick around with someone like you." The platinum haired boy sneered and led the way to the common room without looking back at (Y/N). 

"Then, why didn't you object when Professor Snape told you to accompany me?" (Y/N) snickered, placing both of their hands behind their back.

"Don't get the wrong idea, Rosewood. I can't object to the head of our house, especially if they expect me to do well on a certain task." Draco rolled his eyes and continued walking. 

(Y/N) hummed softly to his words and didn't push anything further.

Along their journey towards the common room, (Y/N) kept humming a tune just to keep the silence away from the two of them. 

They don't want things to get as awkward as it is. 

Their hums eventually caught the ears of Draco and the platinum blonde haired boy slowed their pace to listen more closely.

He couldn't help but feel attached all of a sudden as soon as he heard them hum.

Draco began to think how it would be better if they just sung out loud just for him to hear-- 

Wait, why does he even think about something like that to someone like them!?

As soon as a hum came to an end, Draco felt a slight twinge of disappointment before regaining his fast pace and forgetting his sudden attachment towards the girl/boy. 

(Y/N) noticed this and cocked their head to the side.

Both of them thought of the same thing as they kept walking towards the common room,

_What was that just now?_

* * *

After passing through a bunch of hallways and turning to different corners, (Y/N) and Draco finally reached the entrance to the Slytherin common room. 

As they remembered, it was a dungeon and instead of having to climb a moving staircase, they only have to go down the stairs for a long amount of time before reaching the entrance to the common room.

Standing right in front of them was a plain stone wall with a small noticeable crack in it. (Y/N) looked confused and tilted their head to the side, wondering why they're just standing in front of a wall.

Draco cleared his throat and opened his mouth to say the password out loud.

"Pureblood." Draco says and the (H/C) haired girl/boy internally sighed in relief when Draco told them the password out loud.

(Y/N) forgot the password that was used by the Slytherins during their first year to the Slytherin common room so Draco was a huge help.

Of course, they took that as a sign to remember it so that they wouldn't have to be stuck outside.

On cue, the small crack stretched itself and what was once a small crack on the wall became big as the crack stretched farther so it'll be big enough for the students to enter.

(Y/N) gasped lightly as Draco walked through the large crack, following behind him so they wouldn't be left behind.

They felt excitement course through their body as they looked around the Slytherin common room as if they were a 5 year old child, looking around Disneyland.

Sure, it was a bit dark and doesn't look as lively compared to the other common rooms but (Y/N) didn't really care; they were just happy to be able to experience something like this even though it's just a dream. 

(Y/N)'s smile widened once they realized that the Slytherin common room resembled greatly to the Pottermore's depiction of the Slytherin common room.

Just as they predicted, the Black Lake was visible to the naked eye in the distance. Actually, it's just dark and murky outside the window so they assume that they are in the Black Lake.

(Y/N) reminded themselves to try and communicate with the mermaids and mermen of the lake next time.

Some Slytherins were just sitting around in the common room; studying, chatting and doing a bunch of activities.

"Wow, this is really amazing!" (Y/N) exclaimed but within the earshot of Draco as they looked around and taking a mental picture of every nook and corner of the common room.

Draco grinned, pleased at (Y/N)'s reaction but was sort of surprised that they reacted that way. Most of the first year Slytherins weren't all that happy once the common room was revealed to them.

"Of course it's amazing; it's our common room." Draco stated as if it's the most obvious thing ever. (Y/N) scoffed silently but snickered as they turned around to face their 'tour guide'.

"So, where's my room, Malfoy?"

* * *

"...Am I really allowed to share a room with you guys...?" (Y/N)'s forced smile twitched evidently while Draco closed the door behind him. 

"Of course not! I don't even want to share a room with you two but I had no choice because all of the rooms were occupied!" He crossed his arms and tapped his foot like angrily. (Y/N)'s smile faded and a confused look appeared on their face.

"You mean Alem's staying here too?" They asked, glancing over at the well-arranged bed that was next to their supposed bed. 

"What, you didn't hear me or something?" Draco rolled his eyes. (Y/N) paid no attention to his attitude and didn't say anything about it since they don't really care at this point.

The platinum haired boy huffed silently at (Y/N)'s lack of anger. They would usually comment or get angry at him for acting like that but today, he noticed that they were different from yesterday. 

They were all so challenging and upfront yesterday but today, they look like they're just... composed and unpredictable at the same time.

"He was staying up late at the Infirmary and the rest of the rooms were already taken when he came back. Unfortunately, we still have two available beds in our room so he and I had no choice but to let you two occupy here." Draco explained scornfully. (Y/N)'s mouth formed a small 'o' as they understood their roommate's explanation. 

They sat on the edge of their four poster bed and spotted a familiar **(favorite color)** bag sitting on the floor next to the nightstand.

(Y/N) reached out for their bag to take it. They placed the bag on their lap and zipped it open. 

(Y/N) immediately rummaged through the bag to search for a towel, well if they did bring it with them.

They internally sighed in relief when they found a lone **(favorite color)** towel with a **(shape)** patterns around the towel. 

After pulling the towel out of the bag, they began to run their fingers through the soft texture of the towel.

Draco watched the entire scene unfolding before him and rolled his eyes once more before turning around and opening the door. 

"Are you going back to class?" (Y/N) looked up from their towel as Draco walked out of the room. 

"Of course, I am. I don't want to be here more than I need to be, especially with you." He sneered, turning his head to look at (Y/N).

"Oh... well, thanks for showing me the way anyway. It's been a pleasure." (Y/N) grinned while hugging their towel to their chest. 

Draco pursed his lips and blushed slightly at their words while holding an angry look at the polite Rosewood in front of him. 

Their sudden change of behavior was too much for him to handle but deep down, he sort of prefers this (Y/N).

To hide his reaction, he immediately turned around once more and shut the door close behind him, leaving (Y/N) on the room by themselves. 

Draco stood in front of the door for a while, thinking about his weird conversation with (Y/N).

"What's gotten into me?" Draco mumbled to himself before walking back to class.

* * *

I blinked twice before standing up and placing the towel on the bed. My eyes spotted a Slytherin robe hanging neatly on the wall next to my bed. 

I smiled as I tip toed to get the Slytherin robe on the wall. 

"Thanks, Alem." Chuckling, I examined the robe for a while before placing it on the bed, just beside my towel. 

I noticed a lone mirror reflecting my own reflection and I slightly cringed once I saw my appearance. 

Considering that I am a first year student here at Hogwarts, I'm guessing that I'm an 11 year old kid. 

I looked so different when I was 11 years old and now, I finally got the chance to be able to look at my 11 year old self again.

My face looks way younger than my usual pimple filled face and I look way shorter. My hair was sticking out in every ends and my working robe was extremely disheveled. 

My shoes weren't even properly worn.

"I look like shit." I laughed pathetically to myself. No wonder Professor Snape asked me to make myself presentable.

"And you smell like shit; you seriously need to take a bath." My eyes widened in surprise once the orange hoodie figure appeared from behind me. 

I immediately stumbled back to create some distance between us while holding my chest to stabilize my heart beat.

"You again? Seriously, you need to stop appearing on random places just to scare the hell out of me!" I exclaimed angrily but they just laughed and crouched down to my height.

"11 year old kids aren't allowed to swear, you know? Should I punish you for misbehaving?" They smirked and I raised my fist to hit them straight on the face.

Before my fist could collide with their face, they disappeared again and I cursed silently for my failed attempt to hit them.

"I'm not 11 years old! I'm **(your actual age)**!"

"But you're 11 years old now so you're not really **(your actual age)**..." I yelped and turned around and saw them sitting on the bed while eating a lollipop. 

"Physically, you damn trap; I'm **(your actual age)** mentally." I crossed my arms and emphasized the 'mentally' part.

"Woe oh woe, you're hurting me with your poor attempts to insult me. Also, can't you think of a name for me?" They placed their hand on their chest dramatically while a fake tear escaped from their eyes.

"No, you're not worth it. I'm gonna go with 'orange kid'." 

"That's a great name, (Y/N)! Alright, let's go with Erised instead!" They snapped their fingers happily while I just sent them a deadpanned look.

"...Did you just name yourself after a mirror?"

"Yep! And besides, the name is pretty much perfect so what's the big deal?" Erised shrugged their shoulders and placed both of their hands inside the pockets of their orange hoodie.

"It's just... it doesn't really roll off the tongue all that well..." I frowned and took the towel on my bed.

"Your opinion doesn't matter to me, (Y/N)." Erised laughed and I huffed angrily before walking over to a door located on the corner of the room which I assume to be the bathroom. 

"Also, you'd better hurry up and get to your broomstick lessons or whatever that was. Potions are about to finish." Their voice rang in my ears and I immediately went inside the bathroom.

My mouth hung agape at the sight of the bathroom. It was big nonetheless and it was beyond my expectations. 

Is this really even a bathroom? It's two times the size of my apartment!

I shook my head and immediately washed myself off. 

It felt weird to see my... 11 year old body but it's my body anyway so it doesn't really matter. 

Within 10 minutes, I ran out of the bathroom while the towel that was covering my body threatened to fall.

After hastily wearing my undergarments, I immediately wore the Hogwarts uniform along with the black socks that I found in my bag.

While attempting to wear the socks, I almost fell down on the floor but thankfully, I managed to catch myself.

I grabbed my Slytherin robe and hurriedly wore it while feeling a tingle run down my spine. 

I can't believe I'm actually wearing an actual Slytherin robe. I can't even afford to buy Harry Potter merch because I'm so broke.

After combing my hair and putting my shoes on, my eyes fell to the lone black wand that was on the bag. 

Come to think of it, I assumed that this was Alem's wand before. 

I internally cringed at my stupidity before placing the wand inside the pocket that was underneath the robe.

"Jesus, I hope I'm not late." I didn't even bother to close my bag because I already ran out of the room and closed the door in the process. 

I passed through a bunch of older Slytherins that were chilling in the common room, running my way towards the courtyard to take my flying lessons.

**»»————- ♡ ————-««**

**❝You have to believe in yourself, challenge yourself and push yourself until the very end.**   
**That's the only way you'll succeed.❞**


	5. I - IV: 「The Flying Incident」

**❝When love is not madness, it is not love.❞**

**»»————- ♡ ————-««**

(Y/N) arrived at their destined location after a few minutes since they didn't really know where to go. They were just in time for the class and they couldn't be more grateful.

(Y/N) walked over to their class with a heavy pant and their body having an urge to just crumble to the ground to rest.

Alem noticed his older sibling walking up to them and his (E/C) eyes immediately widened. Without any hesitation, Alem ran over to (Y/N) and grasped both of their shoulders.

"Are you alright, (Y/N)!? Did Malfoy do something to you while I was gone!? I swear, if he did something, I'm going to--" He began to ramble and a panicked look was written all over the youngest Rosewood's face.

(Y/N) slowly waved their hand, interrupting Alem's ramble to reassure Alem that they were fine. "I'm fine, I'm fine and he didn't do anything." (Y/N) sent Alem a tired smile and his panicked look immediately softened into a worried one.

"Maybe you should take a rest for a few minutes. The class isn't going to start soon anyway." Frowning, Alem led (Y/N) to the sidelines and the (H/C) haired boy/girl's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Wait, it's not... going to start yet?" Their breathing returned back to its normal pattern as Alem chuckled and sat (Y/N) down to the grass.

"Now tell me why you were running like crazy, my dear big brother/sister." Alem also sat down beside (Y/N).

He observed his older sibling and hummed softly as he observed that they looked well-groomed and refreshing to look at.

"I thought I was late for class!" (Y/N) exclaimed, crossing their arms and silently sending multiple curse words towards Erised for tricking them.

Alem's eyebrow raised in confusion at their words.

"Come to think of it, how did you know where to find us?" He asked curiously while (Y/N) internally gasped and screamed at his question.

"Also when we were running towards the Potions classroom, you immediately knew where it was even though I never told you where it was. It's like you already knew this place in the first place." Alem leaned closer towards (Y/N), his eyes narrowing while looking intently at the nervous looking girl/boy.

He awaited for his older sibling's answer and after a few seconds of (Y/N) ransacking their brain to find an answer to lie to their 'brother', they came up with an answer that's probably not convincing at all.

"I...asked Draco--"

"YOU'RE CALLING HIM BY HIS FIRST NAME!?" Alem exclaimed and crawled away from (Y/N), who realized their sudden mistake.

"Malfoy, Alem! I wasn't even done yet!" Though they really meant to call Draco by his first name since they were so used to call him by his first name, they immediately thought of an unconvincing save and merely brushed their 'mistake' off by saying that they weren't even done talking yet.

(Y/N) internally screamed, hoping that they would have to stop acting like Draco was an enemy to them so that the same mistake won't be repeated ever again.

"Oh, okay. Continue then." Alem crawled back towards (Y/N)'s side with a poker face. (Y/N) sighed in relief, thankful that he bought the lie so easily.

"I asked him what the next class is and where it would take place and he told me. About that Potions thing, it was just a hunch." (Y/N) brought up a lie and Alem leaned closer towards (Y/N) with a small pout before sighing and leaning away from his older sibling.

"Well, whatever..." He breathed out before looking at the other Gryffindors and Slytherins talking to each other and laughing before the class starts.

The Rosewood twins quietly enjoyed the small moment of peace for a while until Madam Hooch came, holding piles broomsticks.

(Y/N) immediately recognized her face and stood up, dusting off any dirt that was on their robe. Alem mimicked the same action and walked over to the professor, who was already instructing the students, with (Y/N) following shortly behind him.

The Gryffindors and Slytherins have their own lines and they faced each other awkwardly.

(Y/N) felt the uneasiness that came from each houses and they, too, felt awkward all of a sudden.

Broomsticks were laying on the ground beside the students and Alem looked at the broomsticks with a grin.

(Y/N) tuned out every single thing that Madam Hooch was saying to every students but they immediately turned their attention back on the teacher as they heard the familiar lines coming out of her mouth.

"Now, hold your hand over the broomstick and say 'up!'." Madam Hooch instructed and the rest of the students began to say 'up.'

(Y/N) did as they were told and said 'up' but the broomstick wasn't moving an inch.

They looked around and saw that Harry and Draco already had the broomsticks on their hand.

The Malfoy glanced over at the staring (Y/N) and smirked once he saw that they didn't have the broomstick on their hand yet.

(Y/N) blushed in embarrassment and quickly looked down.

"Up!" They said, only with more force this time but the broomstick, still, didn't budge.

The blush on their cheeks became more visible and more red as time keeps passing by. Alem already had the broomstick on his hand and silently laughed as he saw that (Y/N) was having a trouble.

The only thing that made (Y/N) calm their nerves down was the fact that Hermione, Ron and Neville still haven't had their broomsticks on their hands which means that they weren't the only ones who were failing this simple instruction.

Does this mean that I don't have a lot of magic?

(Y/N) sadly thought as they sighed and gave up trying to get the wretched broomstick to listen to them by picking it up by themselves.

Well, it's not like I'm a real wizard/witch anyway...

Draco enjoyed every single moment that he saw and he will surely tease (Y/N) endlessly for it as a payback for yesterday.

"It's alright, (Y/N). You tried." Alem laughed and (Y/N) sent him a glare with a small pout and a heavy blush of embarrassment on their cheeks.

"Alright, everyone have their broomsticks held on their hands?" Madam Hooch asked, making everyone turn to look at her.

The students nodded and answered her question with a 'yes'.

"Good. Now, I want you all to ride your broomsticks carefully," Everyone followed and rode their broomsticks.

(Y/N) slightly sweatdropped and smiled nervously as they know what was going to happen next.

"And kick off the ground as hard as you can so--" A scream interrupted Madam Hooch's instructions which caused everyone to look at the source of the scream.

Neville unintentionally started to float with his broom. He's highly panicking while Madam Hooch is trying to calm him down and let the broom down to the ground.

Unfortunately, it didn't work as Neville flew vigorously around the air while screaming and yelping for help.

Almost the rest of the Slytherins and a few Gryffindors laughed at the current scene but (Y/N) was indifferent.

Alem was looking terrified as he thought about what could happen if he was in Neville's shoes.

"Mr. Longbottom!" Madam Hooch exclaimed. Her face was full of pure terror as she ran around the courtyard, following Neville.

It wasn't long before Neville crashed on the wall and collapsed face down to the ground with a loud thud and a painful groan.

The broomstick that Neville flew was thrown to the side as he collided with the wall.

Madam Hooch immediately went to his side and helped him up slowly.

"It's a broken arm..." She grimaced at Neville's painful expression and turned to look at the rest of the students with a glare.

"I expect everyone to behave and stay still while I bring Mr. Longbottom to the Infirmary. If I see any student flying around, they will be punished before anyone can even say Quidditch." Madam Hooch warned, leading Neville out of the courtyard and towards the Infirmary.

Before (Y/N) could let Draco take the Remembrall that fell out of Neville's pocket after he fell, they already picked it up and examined it.

Suddenly, the Remembrall's color changed into a fiery red, indicating that they forgot something important. (Y/N)'s eyebrow raised in confusion while trying to recall what they forgot.

"Did you see the look on his face when he fell down?" Draco laughed along with Crabbe and Goyle as he snatched the Remembrall out of (Y/N)'s hands.

The (H/C) haired boy/girl gasped silently at the unexpected action from Draco and immediately growled.

"Maybe if he gave this thing a squeeze, he would've remembered to land on his fat arse." The platinum haired Slytherin laughed once more as he examined the Remembrall.

Harry's face turned red, stomping over to Draco to demand him to give the Remembrall back.

"Could you give that thing back? I have to give it back to Neville later." (Y/N) smiled patiently at Draco, who looked at them with an amused look.

Harry stopped on his tracks and the anger that bubbled up on his face disappeared as he looked at the female/male Slytherin with both confusion and awe.

"Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom? Never thought you'd like fat little crybabies, Rosewood." (Y/N)'s smile turned into a strained one as they heard a familiar annoying voice come up behind Draco.

Pansy Parkinson appeared, twirling a strand of her hair while smirking devilishly at (Y/N), who was trying their best to stop themselves from beating the dark haired Slytherin to the ground.

"Shut the hell up, Parkinson; I'm not talking to you and you must really have no life if you're the type of person who keeps on butting in to other people's business even if you have nothing to do with it." (Y/N) laughed to themselves before sending her a glare.

Pansy's face turned red from both anger and embarrassment as she turned around to walk away from Draco and (Y/N).

"Malfoy, that's enough; give it back." Harry stood next to (Y/N) and extended his hand out. He sent the (H/C) haired Slytherin a small look of gratitude before looking back at Draco with a look of anger.

"No, I think I'm going to leave this somewhere for Longbottom to find." Draco stepped back and held his broomstick tighter.

(Y/N) blinked before shrugging and walking back to Alem, who was looking at them with disbelief.

"What?" They asked, uncomfortable of their little brother's look.

"It's just that... you seem a little bit different. You're usually not... this upfront and you're not the type to bother with that... kind of stuff." Alem fidgeted and looked away.

"Maybe you should've been in Gryffindor instead." Alem added. (Y/N) rolled their eyes at their brother's words and patted him gently in the back.

"Well, there's a lot that you don't know about me, Alem." (Y/N) mumbled to themselves and watched as Draco flew up to the air with his broomstick while holding the Remembrall.

"What's the matter, Potter? A bit out of your reach?" Draco mocked as he kept flying higher.

"Draco, I recommend you to just give it back! I'm serious; you'll just end up making Harry a favor after this!" (Y/N) warned and the rest of the students looked at them with confusion as if they were crazy or something, especially Harry.

Well, if it's just a dream then they might as well enjoy it while they can. Draco laughed, not believing anything that (Y/N) just said.

"Making him a favor of what exactly, Rosewood? He can't even fly up on his own!" Draco pointed at Harry, who was holding a broomstick.

Hermione came and told the raven haired Gryffindor to stop but of course, as (Y/N) predicted, Harry didn't listen and flew up to Draco.

Harry had a little bit of trouble on his broomstick and he couldn't control it very well.

It was his first time so there really isn't much to complain, (Y/N) thought.

The two began to fly around the courtyard, with Harry trailing right behind Draco to get Neville's Remembrall back.

"...How did a simple flying lesson end up with this?" Alem sweatdropped, watching Harry and Draco chasing each other.

"What's funnier is that this all happened because of a Remembrall." (Y/N) laughed and remembered the concept of butterfly effect.

If Neville's Remembrall didn't fall out of his pocket, then Harry wouldn't have been the Gryffindor Quidditch team's Seeker and everything would've went different for Harry. (Y/N) shuddered at the thought.

Butterfly effect is a scary thing, (Y/N) thought.

They closed their eyes gently when Draco threw the Remembrall towards a window where Professor McGonagall was.

Harry sped off towards the thrown Remembrall and immediately catched it before it could hit the window to Harry's huge relief.

"Well, I did warn him." (Y/N) chuckled to themselves while Alem looked at them with confusion and mystery.

He couldn't even figure his older sibling out even though they've always been together for 11 years.

They truly changed once they were here at Hogwarts, Alem thought sadly to himself.

Harry panted heavily as a group of Gryffindors came and cheered for Harry's amazing performance at flying.

His emerald green eyes caught a pair of (E/C) ones and immediately smiled once (Y/N) gave him a thumbs up.

Draco flew down to the ground gently and started to feel bitter once he saw (Y/N) and Harry looking at each other as if they were in love.

They were supposed to be a Slytherin yet they support a Gryffindor more than they support someone from their own house.

It wasn't fair to him or as he thought.

"Mr. Potter!" Professor McGonagall came, looking stern and everyone grew silent.

Draco smirked, knowing that Harry would surely be punished or maybe kicked out. (Y/N)'s smile grew wider but Harry frowned as he pocketed Neville's Remembrall and walked over to the head of the Gryffindor house.

"Please follow me." Professor McGonagall instructed and walked back inside with Harry following behind her.

"Congratulations, Harry!" (Y/N) exclaimed and waved happily at the soon-to-be Seeker of the Gryffindor team.

Harry looked back and nervously waved back with a small smile at (Y/N) before looking back at Professor McGonagall.

He thought that it was weird to see them so supportive of him today considering their disastrous introduction yesterday.

"Seriously, what's wrong with you? Do you seriously want to see Harry expelled that much?" Hermione walked up to (Y/N), taking their congratulations as sarcasm.

The (H/C) haired boy/girl definitely didn't expect Hermione to show up and immediately felt nervous.

"I didn't mean for it to be sarcastic or a bad thing, Hermione. I meant like an actual good congratulations." (Y/N) sent Hermione a genuine smile and the Gryffindor grew more confused at their words.

"What do you mean and how do you even know my name?" Hermione asked, crossing her arms.

"Harry is not getting expelled and I'm pretty sure he'll tell you later during dinner and you were standing right next to me during the Sorting and I just remembered your name when Professor McGonagall called out for your name." (Y/N) half lied and half told Hermione the truth.

Though it's slightly unconvincable, Hermione bought it anyway with a sigh.

I guess, if they were telling the truth, Harry wouldn't be expelled, Hermione thought before her eyes observed their appearance.

She slightly blushed and looked away. She wasn't able to deny that they were cute.

"It feels weird that you know my name even though I don't even know yours." Hermione said and (Y/N) immediately extended their hand out for Hermione to shake.

"Sorry. The name's (Y/N) Rosewood. Nice to meet you, Hermione Granger!" They beamed happily.

Hermione looked at their hand and at their smiling face before shaking it for a while and retracting both of their hands away.

"(Y/N), let's go and eat some lunch." Alem groaned and pulled at (Y/N)'s sleeve while looking extremely expaserated.

(Y/N) laughed and held Alem's hand that was pulling on their sleeve and looked back at Hermione.

"Well, I guess I'll talk to you guys during dinner, yeah?" Hermione nodded hesitantly and their question.

"Great, see you on the next class!" (Y/N) waved before walking off with Alem towards the Great Hall.

Hermione stood on the same spot for a while until she realized that she's the only one left on the courtyard.

With a shake of her head, she walks away while her mind went off to the strange Slytherin that she just met today.

**»»————- ♡ ————-««**

**❝At the end of the day, if I can say I had fun,**   
**It was a good day.❞**


	6. I - V: 「The First Song」

❝ **Pain mixed with pleasure,**  
**Love mixed with jealousy.** ❞

_**WARNING:** _  
_**This chapter contains implied non-con act. If you are uncomfortable with such topics, I advise you to skip this chapter.** _  
_**However, if you are fine with said warning, you may proceed.** _

»»————- ♡ ————-««

Multiple classes happened here and there after lunch and so far, (Y/N) enjoyed all of them. 

The (H/C) haired Slytherin listened to every single lessons with such enthusiasm and immersion that they can put Hermione to shame if they wanted to.

Even though they were unlikely to listen to every lessons that the teachers teach to other students, (Y/N) thought that Hogwarts was a special exception since it's basically a dream coming true for them.

There is only one thing that (Y/N) noticed throughout their entire classes during their first day and it was the fact that after that little flying incident, multiple first year students who were there to witness it kept staring at them uncomfortably, especially Draco.

They heard a few gossips from the students, saying that they were something like a clairvoyant.

(Y/N) couldn't help but scoff internally at their words.

 _If only they knew_ , (Y/N) thought.

Draco didn't take part in any gossips that happened and instead, he kept angrily glaring at his fellow Slytherin while keeping an observing look like he was a predator observing its little prey before getting eaten alive.

(Y/N) shuddered at Draco's glares and stayed with Alem the entire time.

Speaking of Alem, he was silently trying to back the rest of the first year students off whenever they start staring at his older sibling with a nasty look behind (Y/N)'s back.

He becomes a completely different person during classes; he holds a cold look, listens intently to the professor and ignores everyone, even (Y/N).

But, the older Rosewood didn't really care or didn't mind. 

They know that everyone changes once school is being involved.

It was currently nighttime and most of the students were in the Great Hall, eating dinner after a long tiring day. 

(Y/N) turned their head towards the Gryffindor table and saw that Harry was already there. They looked down at their empty plate and stood up from the Slytherin table.

Alem looked up from his plate with his mouth full of food and crumbs all over the corner of his lips. 

"Where are you going, (Y/N)?" He asked, stuffing another food inside his mouth.

(Y/N) sweatdropped at the thought of Alem choking on his food while talking to them with his mouth full.

"Swallow your food, Alem." They sighed. 

"And I'm going to the Gryffindor table for a while." (Y/N) told Alem. 

The youngest Rosewood's eyebrow raised in confusion but didn't further question his older sibling since they probably have a reason why they're going to the Gryffindor table.

Alem didn't really care about the feud between the Slytherins and Gryffindors. He treats everyone equally, Slytherin or not.

Well, maybe except Draco.

"Sit down, Rosewood. You're not supposed to go to the Gryffindor table." Draco, who was sitting across the Rosewood twins, huffed angrily while his head was resting on his hand.

(Y/N) and Alem turned their heads at Draco, both having different expressions. (Y/N) looked confused but Alem rolled his eyes annoyingly.

"Any reason why I shouldn't?" (Y/N) asked, trying to make themselves composed and calm as much as possible.

"You're a Slytherin; if you're going to get crummy with the Gryffindors then you'll obviously tarnish our name. Better to just sit down and stay here." The platinum haired Slytherin explained and looked away from (Y/N), trying to get his attention somewhere else.

"So what if they're a Slytherin? It doesn't mean that they can't get friendly with everyone else, can they? And also, you're overreacting a bit by saying that getting along with Gryffindors will 'tarnish' our name." Alem scoffed and made air quotation marks when he said 'tarnish'. 

Draco didn't say anything after Alem spoke those words.

(Y/N) awaited for Draco's reply and since nothing came out of his mouth, they shrugged and sent Alem a small smile of gratitude before walking over to the Gryffindor table.

Sure enough, most of the Gryffindors' eyes narrowed at the sight of a Slytherin approaching their table. 

But, to reassure them that (Y/N) meant to harm, they sent them a gentle smile.

After that, they all turned around and continued with their chattering while eating their dinner.

"Hey, Potter! What's the big news?" (Y/N) patted Harry's back from behind, laughing as they did so.

Ron silently looked away and pursed his lips, scooting away from the (H/C) haired Slytherin. 

They noticed this and slightly felt like they were unwelcomed in this table. Harry looked up at (Y/N) and sent them a nervous smile.

"Well, thanks for the advanced congratulations earlier, Rosewood. You were right; Malfoy just ended up making me a favor." Harry moved a bit to the side in order to give (Y/N) some space for them to sit on.

(Y/N) hummed softly and gave themselves the privilege of sitting next to the raven haired boy.

"He became the Gryffindor Quidditch team's Seeker." Hermione piped in and gave (Y/N) an apologetic smile. 

"Sorry for lashing out at you earlier. I was out of control that time." (Y/N) responded by shaking their head as an indication that they didn't mind Hermione's attitude a while ago.

"It's fine. Besides, I was saying pretty non-sensical stuff back then so your reaction was definitely understandable." They laughed once more and Ron recalled their ramblings during their flying lessons a while ago.

"Hey, how did you know that Harry wasn't going to get in trobuble?" Ron asked so that he wouldn't be left out.

"Everyone's right, Ron; I'm a clairvoyant." (Y/N) joked while doing an imaginary hair flip with their (H/C) hair.

Harry and Hermione chuckled at this while watching their new friend doing another weird stuff.

"No, but seriously, Professor McGonagall's look didn't look so angry at all; she looked pretty happy under all that strict face. That's how I knew." They put up a convincing lie since they can't tell that they already knew that it was going to happen or that they watched and read an entire series based on them.

Unsurprisingly, they bought the lie and continued with their conversation.

"Maybe I should ask you about who I'm going to end up with in the future." Harry joked and laughed but (Y/N) internally screamed while keeping a genuine smile so that no one can tell that they're screaming so hard right now.

"Well, they aren't here yet. But... I'll let you figure that out yourself." (Y/N) shrugged while taking a sip of some (favorite flavor) juice and acting like a mafia boss.

Harry's smile faded and turned into a shocked one with a blush of disbelief tinted his cheeks.

"Wait, really? You know who I'm going to end up with?" He leaned closer towards the Slytherin, both happy yet nervous at the same time.

(Y/N) slightly choked on their juice before facing Harry with a teasing look.

"What, no! I was just joking. In case you forgot, I can't really look into the future, you know?" (Y/N) placed their empty glass on the table while Harry leaned away, slightly disappointed.

"Oh, right. Sorry." He briefly apologized. This continued on for a few minutes until Hermione yawned and groggily stood up from the table.

"Well, I'm heading to bed now. Are you three going to stay here?" She rubbed her eyes while trying to keep her voice loud enough for them to hear.

Ron immediately stood up and soon, (Y/N) followed.

"No, I think let's call it a day today." They grinned and glanced over at Ron, giving him a smile. The Weasley nervously smiled back and walked over to Hermione.

Ron wanted nothing more than to just get away from (Y/N).

He sighs silently before looking back at Harry who stood up from the table as well.

"Alright, then. I'll see you tomorrow, (Y/N)." Hermione grinned and waved at her new Slytherin friend. 

(Y/N) waved back, the feeling of excitement almost wanting to burst out of their chest.

"Good night, Harry. Good night, Ron. Good night, Hermione." They grinned back and watched the golden trio walk out of the Great Hall with a sigh of satisfaction.

After a while, they walked over to the Slytherin table and found Draco talking to Pansy, Crabbe and Goyle. Alem was nowhere to be found so they looked around to look for their little brother.

"If you're looking for your brother, he already went back to the common room." Draco said as he noticed (Y/N) looking around the Great Hall for any signs of their brother.

(Y/N) turned to look at Draco with a slight look of surprise before softening them into a thankful one.

"Thanks, Malfoy." They briefly thanked the platinum haired boy and walked out of the Great Hall, yawning in the process.

Pansy rolled her eyes as she watched their retreating form, still angry that they sort of embarrassed her in front of the other students a while ago.

After the oldest Rosewood was gone entirely from the Great Hall, Draco continued his conversation with the three but his mind somehow drifted into (Y/N), curious why they didn't bear a look of anger and annoyance when they saw him unlike yesterday.

 _Did their brother exorcise them or something?_ Draco questioned himself.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

As soon as (Y/N) arrived on their room, they immediately collapsed on the bed and gave off a defeated sigh. 

Alem looked up from his book and slightly laughed at his sibling's defeated look. 

"Someone looks tired today." He pointed out and placed his book on the nightstand that was beside his bed.

"Sort of. I'm so glad that they didn't give us any homework to do today." (Y/N) internally cheered and hugged a pillow, letting its soft texture hit their entire body and relax them to sleep.

"I think they're just going easy on us today. Wait 'till tomorrow and something will definitely happen." Alem laughed and began to wrap himself with the blanket like a burrito.

He doesn't know why but he feels much better whenever he does this.

"Geez, I hope not. I can't take surprise homeworks." (Y/N) cringed and lazily stood up from their bed once they realized that they still have their Slytherin robe on.

"But, I'm sure you'll be fine. You were able to handle 3 homeworks when you were attending a muggle school so what's the difference?" Alem joked while turning to the side of the bed to face (Y/N).

"Okay, Alem. One, those homeworks don't have anything related to magical creatures and any mythic stuff that muggles think isn't real. Two, I think I'm going to die slowly if I have to use a quill everyday instead of a pencil to write because believe me, Alem. I'd want to finish my homework as fast as I could and quills aren't the best thing for that." (Y/N) listed off monotoneously while removing their robe and hanging it neatly on the wall, just like Alem did.

The youngest Rosewood rolled his eyes and closed it, snuggling his face deeper to the blanket. "Whatever, sis/bro. You're gonna have to take the hard way here in Hogwarts." Alem said in a sing song voice but his words trailed off, indicating that he was starting to get sleepy.

(Y/N) began to think about his words as they collapsed on the bed once more.

_The hard way..._

_Come to think of it, I have to do something before the school year ends, right?_

_But, I don't even remember what it is anymore._

_..._

_Geez, Erised returned my memory but didn't return the most important thing I need to do?_

_It almost feels like they want to kill me or something._

_Wait, what if that was the thing that I forgot when I held Neville's Remembrall?_

_..._

(Y/N) turned to the side and covered themselves in a blanket while looking up to the ceiling, letting their thoughts sink in.

_I'm sure that I'll be able to remember it soon enough._

_And if I'm able to remember it, I'll do it as soon as I can so I'll be extending my stay here._

_..._

(Y/N) fell asleep as Draco walked inside the room with Crabbe and Goyle following behind him.

His eyes immediately wandered at the oldest Rosewood's sleeping form and scoffed at how unlady/unmanly like they were when they were sleeping.

Draco changed his clothes and stole one final glance at (Y/N)'s sleeping form, cringing slightly when he saw that a drool was coming out of their mouth.

He shook his head and climbed to his bed, turning the lights off before closing his eyes and letting the sleep take him in.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

_I opened my eyes since I felt my arm being pulled by someone, their hard grip almost making it seem like they want to break my arm._

_I glanced over at the large, manly grip on my arm before looking up to the person who's dragging me without any concern for my health whatsoever._

_But, even though I wanted to say something, I couldn't say anything. My mouth isn't allowing me to._

_Eventually, the man stopped dragging me away and pushed me in front of these other men who I don't know or recognize._

_"Daddy, who are these people?" I mumbled softly, glancing up at the men who were squinting their eyes down on me in a sinister manner._

_When I noticed their dirty glares on me, I hugged my stuffed bear tightly and close to my chest as if my stuffed bear is my protector._

_"They're good friends of mine, (Y/N)." The man, who I eventually recognized as my father, answered my question with the same smile that those other men threw towards me._

_"Friends...?" I said, repeating his word as if it's one of the complicated things I've ever heard him say._

_"Yes, so you'll need to be friendly to them too, alright?" My father brings his hand over to my head, ruffling my messy (H/C) hair with his fingertips before retracting his hand away._

_"Okay, Daddy..." I mumble, looking down to the ground while kicking a random pebble since I can't really refuse or say anything to my father._

_..._

_"Hey, (F/N). This is your kid?" I heard one of the men ask my father while I'm just crouching down and watching a random ant crawl around the stoned ground in the middle of an alley._

_"Yeah. They're 8 years old." My father replied, chuckling as he did so._

_"Nice. Do I have to hold back or nah?" This odd question from the man made me blink in confusion, wondering what he's trying to mean by that._

_"Psh, go crazy." My father laughed, patting the man's shoulder._

_At this point, I didn't even bother to question anything since I wouldn't understand anything anyway._

_Though, I do wonder why my father decided to bring me here. Isn't this place a bit shady?_

_"Nice to meet you, little (Y/N)!" The man piped up behind me which made me turn my head around and stand up, dusting off any dirt from my clothes and holding my stuffed bear._

_"Nice to meet you too, Daddy's friend." I forced myself a smile since my father said that I need to be nice to them although I don't really want to._

_"Hey, do you want to play a game with us?" He smirks and I almost wanted to run away but because he mentioned games, maybe he wasn't trying anything suspicious._

_I mean, all children like games so maybe he just wants to play something with me._

_"...Game... What kind of game?" I asked, feeling slightly excited that I get to play something at night. My mother makes me sleep early so I can't really play any games after 8 PM._

_"Let's see..." He brings his finger to his chin before taking a step towards me, his smirk widening while it's my eyes that's widening in fear._

_"If you make any noise," The man takes another step while I keep taking a step back because I don't want him to get any closer to me._

_Eventually, the other men from a while ago popped up behind the man, giving me a smirk and a look of lust that I felt extremely disgusted._

_"...Daddy?" I look around, wanting to find protection from my father and run towards him. I want to go home now!_

_"You and your mommy will die." The man chuckles and takes a huge step towards me but before I can even take another step, my back already collided with the cold, dirty brick wall on the alley._

_"...Daddy, please help me...!" I exclaimed fearfully, hugging my stuffed bear while tears are already pouring out of my eyes._

_Where was my father? Why isn't he doing anything?_

_Why did he bring me here?_

_"Your daddy won't be coming to save you, little (Y/N)." The man grabbed my arm and basically shoved the stuffed bear I had out of my other hand. I began to struggle for my life while the other men behind him started to grab any part in my body; my legs, my arm, the back of my head._

_"No! Let go of me! I want my Daddy!" I cried out, feeling the man lift the hem of my shirt up and exposing my skin to the cold and chilling wind of the night._

_"I promise I'll be gentle, alright?" He whispered huskily in my ear while his hand drifted down to the hem of my shorts._

_I hiccuped and shot my eyes open in both fear and disbelief. While these men are starting to terrorize me, I screamed from the bottom of my lungs and hoped that someone can hear me screaming out for my life._

_..._  
_..._  
_..._  
_..._  
_..._

ş̷̨̧̡̢̭͕͎̱̤̥̣̤̝͙̙̗̳̟̯̜̖̬̳̪̣̭͈̩͙̗͆͌̉̑̇͑͗̚͜͜Ă̸̡̡̨̠̦͎̦͖̟̰͍̩̞͓͚̱̖͈̯̫̰͙̺̭͈̘̦̰̙̿̽̑͛̈́̈͌͗̎̌̏̍͜͝͝v̷̫͎͚̭̭̩̱͍̌̐̾̾̎̈͂͋̽̽̓͊̔̌̊͋̉̿̋͛̓̓̽̈́̑̈̆͌͑̆̑̋̓̓̊̚̚̚̚͠͝Ê̴͙͈̑͗̐̽̅̄̈́̄̑͌̓͌̋̄͌̿̉̑̒̈́͐͂̓͘̕͝͝͝͝ ̶̢̧̡̛̳͙͓̼̰̰͚̹̤̫̤̹͈͖͎̹͈̫̜͔̞̩̖͎͔̘̜̭̻̪̞͖͓̞̈́̋̎̑̀̒̉̈́̅̾̏̐͊̋͂̒̿̑͊́̌̿̉̈́̈́͘͜͜͝͝ͅͅM̶͈̘̹̖̜̭̭̭̯̓͗͐̆̀̈́̈́̽͝͝ę̷̨̘̝̗̫̬̯̪̫̫̫̻̘̹̜̪̼̌̈́̈́́͂̓̐͐͒̿͆̊̉̃̈͝͝ ̴̧̢̨̺̫̩͎̪͎͍̙̭̘̮̪͍͎̰͙͔̱̙͚͍͔͕̮͕͚͓͓̓̀̇͒͌́̍̍͂̔̄̚̚͜͠͝͝ͅ!̸̢̛̤̬̩̘̹͐̍̂̓̀̒̾̉̈́͆̂͛̅͗͑̈̓̿̌̌̕͝!̵̡̨̡̧̧̛͉̮͉̭̥͕̭̱̯̳͑̀͗̑̿̌̓͊̓̋̈́̒͋̾̓̎͐́̄̉̓̕͝͝͝!̴̨̨̡̡̧͓̤̻̘̼̟͕̮̼̙̤̹̜̬͓͚̜̯̙̏̓̄͐̇̾͋̽̔͐̈́̌̓̃̌̃̉͂̀̉̆̃͗̿̃̕͘͠͝͠͠

»»————- ♡ ————-««

(Y/N) shot up from their bed, their eyes wide and their heart beating out of their chest. Their breathing was rapid and tears flowed down to their cheeks like waterfall.

Small hiccups made their way to (Y/N)'s throat and they try to stifle it so they won't be able to wake anyone up.

(Y/N) took a gulp of air and hugged their small shivering form. That nightmare that they just saw was still playing in their head like a broken cassette; no matter how hard they tried to get it out of their mind, they always manage to remember it again.

Suddenly, a chill went down their spine as they remembered the man's horrifying smirk while he continued to terrorize their body.

Sweat enveloped their entire forehead and merged along with the tears, trickling down to their chin. Silent and choking sobs escaped their lips while they continued to hug themselves to find comfort that it was nothing more than just a nightmare.

A nightmare that happened years ago.

The (H/C) haired boy/girl shook their head and climbed out of the bed. It was then that Draco groggily opened his eyes to see what the noises were and how it interrupted his sleep.

To his surprise, Draco saw a fleeting glimpse of wet tears staining the oldest Rosewood's cheeks as they silently opened the door and walked away, closing it with a small creak. His entire sleeping state vanished completely.

"...A nightmare, possibly?" Draco mumbled to himself. He glanced over at (Y/N)'s empty bed and was trying to choose whether or not he should go and follow the crying Slytherin.

With a groan, Draco slowly climbed out of his bed and silently made his way to the door.

He told himself that he was just going to follow them and see if they were going somewhere that they shouldn't be to get themselves punished.

After all, he can't have a single Slytherin lose points because of their incompetence.

Yes, that's it.

As soon as Draco stepped out of the room, he saw (Y/N)'s shadow walking down the stairs, presumably to the common room, until it vanished.

The platinum haired Slytherin followed it and as soon as he was on the common room, he immediately hid behind a wall to avoid being seen by (Y/N).

(Y/N), on the other hand, sat on the sofa that was in front of the burned out fireplace and sobbed a little louder. It was a good thing that there were no people left on the common room except them.

But, if only they knew that a certain Malfoy was watching them.

The oldest Rosewood remembered their mother and the song that she would always sing whenever they had a nightmare. It would always manage to calm the little (Y/N) down and immediately fall asleep afterwards.

(Y/N) smiled to themselves and with a quivering lip, they opened their mouth to sing themselves a little lullaby.

_I patiently wait for the morning to come..._

Though it was sort of inaudible and (Y/N)'s voice was wobbling, Draco heard it as clear as a bright sunny day. He was taken back to that morning when he heard the Rosewood hum a tune, almost like a beautiful melody that he had never heard before in his entire life.

Now that he finally heard them sing, something in his heart throbbed for the (H/C) haired boy/girl. Something that he couldn't understand but loved it anyway.

_It's not time just yet,_  
_It's not time just yet,_  
_What will be the color of the morning_ _sky?_

The more he hears their voice, the more Draco's heart pounded. His lips slightly parted and a blush tinted his cheeks to a red hue. What is this feeling that he's feeling right now?

_It's not time just yet,_  
_It's not time just yet,_  
_For you see the night is still half and still young._

He peeked out of the wall and his eyes slightly widened at (Y/N)'s appearance as they sung from the side. Though their hair was slightly unkempt from the sleep, it still looked as soft and shiny as it was just a while ago.

How their lips moved gracefully while singing every lyric coming out of their mouth truthfully bewildered the young Malfoy.

Their closed eyes gave themselves a peaceful and calming aura and the despair that they felt just faded away from an instant.

How could he only see this now?

_Where, oh where could the child who sleeps be resting in peace?_  
_Now, say 'good morning', Nightmare._  
_And the bad dreams that you see,_

With a blink of an eye, Draco felt his entire heart skip a beat once he felt a gust of air passing through him and (Y/N), making their hair flow gently within the wind and gracing the young Malfoy with the beautiful sight that he's currently witnessing.

_Will never come again..._

Once (Y/N) finished their song, they felt their eyes dropping and becoming heavy. They smiled softly to themselves and let their body collapse to the sofa with a lone tear escaping their eye.

"Thank you, Mom..." They silently mumbled before they were consumed by sleep once more.

When Draco thought that they were alseep, he came out of his hiding spot and walked over to the sleeping (Y/N) and admired how they slept so peacefully.

He crouches down and he gently runs his fingers through their hair and his fingers seemingly tingled at the feeling of (Y/N)'s hair running through it.

It almost felt like it was made for Draco to touch.

With a smile and a flustered face, he leans closer towards (Y/N)'s cheek and gently kisses it. He felt a strong rush of happiness and the urge to protect them from any harm as he kissed their cheek. But, his lips felt wet when he kissed their cheek, probably because of their tears.

But, he was determined to keep them safe. He wouldn't make them cry anymore.

"Good night, (Y/N)." Draco grinned and rested his head next to (Y/N)'s, taking in their scent.

All of a sudden, he realized that (Y/N) smelled so familiar.

Chuckling, he lets out a sigh of satisfaction once he realized that they probably used his shampoo when they took a bath.

With that thought in mind, he fell asleep next to the now peaceful (Y/N).

»»————- ♡ ————-««

Erised silently laughed and squealed at the same time as they watched the two Slytherins sleeping next to each other so peacefully.

They were watching from the side of the lake. "Aw, they look so cute sleeping together!" They chuckled and recalled the moment where (Y/N) triggered their curse to Draco.

"Looks like you have your first admirer, (Y/N) and it looks like," Erised tapped their chin happily.

"I won't have to kill you." They laughed once more and started to walk away from the lake.

"This is just the beginning, (Y/N). I wonder if you can actually manage to hold on until the end." Erised snickered to themselves at the thought as they disappeared into thin air.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

❝ **Now, this is not the end.**  
**It's not even the beginning of the end.**  
**But it is, perhaps,**  
**The end of the beginning.** ❞


	7. I - VI: 「A Challenge of Envy」

❝ **I refuse to give you to anyone else.**  
 **You need to know that you're mine and mine only.** ❞

»»————- ♡ ————-««

Alem opened his eyes softly when his mind told him to wake up. With a groan, he sits up on his bed and rubs any sand that invaded the corners of his eyes.

Surprisingly, no sunlight was pouring down the windows of the room. He was proud of himself when he realized that he woke up early.

He glanced over at (Y/N)'s bed, expecting them to sprawl out across their bed with a mouthful of drool trickling down their chin and their pillows and blankets already fallen off the bed.

But, to his surprise and confusion, there was no (Y/N) sleeping on the bed.

"Did they already wake up?" Alem mumbled but shook his head at the thought of (Y/N) waking up early.

I mean, this is (Y/N) he's talking about. There is no way that they would wake up at this kind of time.

"But, where did they even go?" Alem asked to himself and glanced over at his other roommate's beds.

The two boys, whom Alem recognized as Crabbe and Goyle was sleeping soundly. But, his confusion grew once he saw another empty bed, or more specifically, Draco's bed.

Suddenly, his (E/C) eyes grew wide at the realization of what the empty beds of his brother/sister and Draco meant.

Alem frantically threw the blanket away from him and immediately but silently walked over to the door.

It was only then he realized that the door wasn't even properly closed, which meant that the two Slytherins walked outside the room or possibly even the common room when it was midnight. He felt anger bubbling up inside him at the thought of Draco being with (Y/N).

There was no way in hell that he's going to let someone like him be with (Y/N).

Once Alem stepped out of the room, he closed the door and made his way to the common room where he was graced with an unruly sight that almost made him flip the nearest table.

On the sofa that was right in front of the fireplace slept (Y/N), their small body curled up to be able to squeeze themselves in the small sofa.

Next to (Y/N) was a sleeping Draco Malfoy, his head buried in his arms next to (Y/N)'s head.

Alem stomped his way towards the two Slytherins and was about to pull his older sibling away from the sofa until he saw dried tear stains on (Y/N)'s cheek.

Alem took a small step back and glanced over at Draco with a pursed lip. "Did he...?" Alem thought for a moment then shook his head, obviously finding his assumption to be ridiculous.

Without any second thoughts, Alem slowly shook (Y/N) awake.

"(Y/N), wake up." He whispered. (Y/N) stirred softly in their sleep and after a while, their eyes fluttered open. They didn't expect to see their brother first thing in the morning.

"...Is it morning already?" They slurred and moved slightly to cover themselves away from Alem.

"Sort of. I mean, the sun is almost rising." He shrugged.

"Then, let me sleep for a little longer, Alem. I don't wake up at 4 am." (Y/N) groaned and moved their hand around to find their pillow and their blanket.

But, to their surprise, their hand came in contact with something... soft and squishy...?

They immediately turned around to see what their hand came in contact with. Their eyes widened and a loud gasp escaped their lips once they saw a familiar platinum haired boy sleeping so soundly next to them.

"What in the actual piece of flying f--"

"First of all, (Y/N). You and Malfoy left the room without me knowing and I'm absolutely pissed that you two are snuggling to each other like best friends. Second of all, what happens if someone sees you like this!?" Alem gestured exaggeratedly at the two.

"I'm afraid someone already has." A familiar deep voice came behind Alem. The Rosewood twins' shoulders jumped at the sudden surprise and turned to look at the owner of the voice.

Both of their mouths hung agape once they saw Professor Snape standing there with the usual unamused look on his face.

(Y/N) immediately climbed out of the sofa, almost tripping and waking Draco in the process.

The platinum haired Slytherin's head rose up and rubbed his eyes to see what the fuss was all about.

He was petrified when he saw Professor Snape standing there and he rose up to his feet, stumbling slightly.

"G-Good morning, Professor. Um, what brings you here?" (Y/N) stammered while scratching her (H/C) bed hair. Alem stood there, shocked at the sudden appearance of Slytherin head.

"Should I not be asking you two that, Miss/Mr Rosewood and Mr Malfoy?" Professor Snape towered at the three first years with an intimidating glare.

(Y/N) turned to look at the platinum haired Slytherin with a flustered expression and pointed at him accusingly.

"Professor, I was meant to be alone here in the common room however Malfoy appeared beside me as soon as I woke up from my sleep here." The (H/C) haired Slytherin said truthfully. However, they couldn't definitely say the reason as to why she slept in the common room instead of their own room with Alem.

Alem slightly glared at Draco, thinking that he might've tried to do something to his older sibling.

Draco, however, was trying to ransack his brain just to think of any reason to avoid punishment from Professor Snape.

He couldn't tell them that he followed (Y/N) downstairs, listened to them sing, began to like them after doing so and slept beside them as an act of protection.

Professor Snape kept the room silent for a moment until he opened his mouth to speak. "Should I see you both doing such things once more, punishment will be unavoidable." He narrowed his eyes and walked away, leaving us with a relieved sigh escaping their lips.

(Y/N) turned to look at Draco with a look of silent judgement. They knew that Draco must've followed them down here and watched them cry and sing for a minute.

It was embarrassing for (Y/N) and they knew that the Malfoy heir wouldn't hesitate to tease them about it.

"Malfoy, I swear to Merlin, if you were trying to do anything conspicuous with my brother/sister--!" Alem stomped towards Draco, his (E/C) eyes narrowed as ever.

"Oh cool off, will you, Rosewood?" The platinum haired Slytherin rolled his eyes, annoyed at how Alem was acting.

To avoid anymore questions from the Rosewood twins, Draco left the room and back towards their room.

(Y/N) watched Draco's retreating form disappear into the corner while Alem's fuming cheeks softened.

He turned to look at the window where the Black Lake stood and from the distance, the light of the sun could be seen.

"Well, let's just get ready." Alem sighed, looking away from the window and back towards (Y/N). They were already curled comfortably in the sofa with their back faced against the fireplace.

"Let me sleep, Alem; it's still 5 AM." They grumbled, burying their face deeper in order to feel the sweet tranquility of sleep once more. Alem groaned and grabbed their arm, pulling them away from the sofa.

"If you're going to sleep again, at least go back in our room!"

»»————- ♡ ————-««

I opened my eyes once I felt my shoulder being shaken. My vision tried to stabilize but after a while, I could see the person peering my face clearly now.

However, I yelped and jumped away from the person, making me fall out of the bed and groan in pain.

"Merlin's beard, Draco... Why were you so close?" I grabbed the edge of the bed to gain some support for me to stand up on my own.

Draco stared at me with wide eyes and a heavy blush tinted on his pale cheeks.

"Are you sick?" I asked, my hand reaching out to touch his forehead.

"Did you just call me Draco?" He asked, making my hand stop halfway. I immediately retracted my hand away and realized that I just called him by his first name as if we were close or something.

I internally shook my head and kept my composure as if his words meant nothing.

"You must've misheard me; I called you by your full name." I tried to put up a good lie. Draco's eyes softened and the blush disappeared from his cheeks, like he's disappointed or something.

I immediately felt bad.

Maybe I wouldn't have to call Draco by his last name all the time if I just call him by his first name.

And I wouldn't have to brush it off as if it was a mistake.

"But," I dragged, looking away and scratching my hair. "If you want me to, then I guess I could?" I asked and was ready for a full rant from Draco, knowing that he is the tsundere type of these kinds of things.

When I peered over to see what Draco's face has to say, the same look he had when I, mistakenly, called him by his first name returned.

But, he looked away and narrowed his eyes. "This is outrageous! Why would I ever let you use my first name? We aren't even that friendly anyway!" His voice boomed throughout the room. I shrugged and walked past him to go to the bathroom.

"Well, I guess you don't want me to then. It's alright, no pressure." I monotoneously replied to his reaction before opening the door to the bathroom.

"But fine!" Draco's voice raised even higher as if he was trying to make me stop.

And I did.

"Since you're clearly a git that calls everyone by their first name as if you have no shame at all." Draco mumbled but was loud enough for me to hear.

I grinned at what he said. "Well, I really am a git, Draco." I laughed and entered the bathroom, locking it in the process to make sure no one else gets in.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

Draco's heart thumped and he crumbled down to his knees when (Y/N) showed him that grin and how they pronounced his name perfectly.

He wanted them to say his name again.

It was as if their mouth was made for them to just say his name and talk about him all over again. It was the perfect melody for his ears.

However, he stopped and thought to himself, clearly disgusted and surprised at his sudden feelings and actions for someone that he supposedly hates.

Someone that he just met.

"What is wrong with me? I'm not... like this!" Draco gritted his teeth and tried to fight his way out of his sudden infatuation with the oldest Rosewood.

However, the curse itself was changing his mindset; it's convincing him that he isn't doing anything wrong.

It's love.

It's something that everyone experiences every once in a while. It's okay to experience it.

"No, they changed me." Draco stood up and stared at the locked bathroom door with a loving smile.

"I'm fine. This is perfectly normal." He smiled even wider before looking at the neatly hanged Slytherin robes at the wall next to (Y/N)'s bed.

Draco took the robes. He sniffed it and the scent of (Y/N)'s perfume lingered into his nose.

He swooned and sighed, staring at the robes lovingly.

It's the same robe that (Y/N) wears. It's in his hands. He's touching it.

The platinum haired Slytherin took off his own robes and hung it to the wall next to (Y/N)'s bed, as where their hanged robes should've been.

Draco slipped (Y/N)'s robes on and felt himself crumbling in excitement and happiness.

"Perfect." Draco chuckled and walked out of the common room with a smug smile on his face.

He's already having a nice day.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

I walked my way towards the Great Hall with a huge smile on my face. I'm feeling pretty great. Once I've reached the Great Hall, I walked towards the Slytherin table and searched for my little brother.

Unfortunately, the small heathen was nowhere to be found which I found was weird.

I raised my eyebrows in confusion and wondered where Alem could've gone. I shrugged and walked towards the Gryffindor table instead.

Harry, Hermione, Ron and Neville were sitting next to each other, eating and talking to each other. Harry diverted his attention towards me when he saw me getting close.

"Good morning, y'all." I greeted and sat down next to Ron. He didn't scoot away this time which I thought was nice.

I looked at the red-haired boy and gave him a huge smile as an extra for my greeting. He returned it back with a smile as well.

"Morning. You're not going to sit with your house?" Hermione asked, taking a bite out of a pudding on her plate. I shook my head and helped myself to a chicken drumstick.

"Alem's not here so I figured I'll just sit with you guys." I shrugged and took a huge bite, the feeling of hunger slowly disappearing.

"Alem?" Harry asked, confused as to who I was talking about. I blinked and swallowed my food before I explained.

"Oh, my brother. The one that looks just like me." Their eyes lightened when they understood who I was talking about.

Ron nodded and ate his food hungrily like he hadn't eaten for an entire day. Hermione stared at the way Ron was eating and was uncomfortable.

"Woah, slow down, Weasley." I laughed. Ron noticed this and started to eat more slowly this time with a small blush of embarrassment present on his cheeks.

Once Ron swallowed his food, he turned to look at me.

"You... don't mind hanging out with us?" He asked. However, I can't tell if he's asking me if I want to hang out with them or if he's asking me if I'm fine with hanging out with them because I'm a Slytherin.

"No, why would I?" I answered neutrally.

"Because Malfoy over there looks extremely displeased and angry. Might wanna sort that out later, yeah?" He smirked, glancing over my shoulders before taking another bite out of his breakfast.

I raised my eyebrows in confusion and turned around to look at Draco who's eyes was extremely narrowed and his shoulders twitching in anger.

I coughed, turned my heads back to the golden trio since his stare was so intense that if looks could kill, I would've been dead already.

"It's not for him to decide if I should hang out with you guys or not." I shrugged and smiled at them.

They looked at each other and returned my smile.

With that, we continued to talk about a bunch of stuff since we still have time before classes start.

Although they were all stating some things about their past, I had to pretend as if I didn't know them.

Because I already did in the first place.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

Harry felt at as if he misunderstood the (H/C) haired Slytherin in front of him. While they were weird, crazy and nonsensical when they first met, it seems like they were really kind and very unbiased.

(Y/N) held something in their eyes as if they were hiding something, making them mysterious.

He didn't mind if (Y/N) became his friend, even though they're a Slytherin. After all, they don't care about the feud between the houses and becomes friendly with the three of them so why not give them a chance?

Ron and Hermione felt the same thing about (Y/N); they were both so uncomfortable by them but when they showed that they were different from the other Slytherins, Ron and Hermione began to change their mind.

From then and there, the three immediately knew that (Y/N) would be a great friend. However, they can't stop the death glare that the Malfoy heir was sending their way.

Of course, it's unavoidable considering that he has fallen for (Y/N) already.

Jealousy was exploding and thumping vigorously inside Draco's body. He didn't even bother to stop Pansy from clinging into his arm because all he could see was his envy for the three Gryffindors.

_They're a Slytherin, for Merlin's sake! Why bother to go and socialize with Gryffindors!?_

Is what Draco thought.

It was good enough that he was getting close to (Y/N) by letting them use his first name but no, it felt like (Y/N) was getting way closer with Harry, Hermione and Ron.

He obviously can't let that happen, no matter what.

As Draco stood, Pansy removed her arm from Draco's as she looked up to him in confusion. Crabbe and Goyle was confused as well.

"Dracy?" Draco internally cringed at the nickname that Pansy gave him but didn't show it on his face.

Without answering her, Draco walked up to the Gryffindor table. Specifically, towards Harry.

He had to get the most problematic one out of the way first.

Harry's expression turned grim and so did Ron's when he saw Draco walk up to him. (Y/N) looked up to the platinum haired Slytherin and gave him a glare.

"Potter." He simply said, spitting the chosen one's name like it was pure venom.

"What do you want, Draco?" (Y/N)'s eyes narrowed. Draco's insides fluttered once he heard them call him by his name once more.

"None of your business at the moment, (Y/N)" But he had to keep it cool. He kept his steely glare at the raven haired boy.

"You're a brave one, aren't you? Considering you've been sorted in Gryffindor and all." Draco asked but Hermione rolled her eyes.

The platinum haired Slytherin didn't take Hermione's reaction too well and silently cursed her inside his head.

"Get to the point, Malfoy." Harry said, getting annoyed at the presence of Draco.

"You ruined the mood." Ron mumbled, looking away but Draco clearly heard what he had said. He turned his head towards Ron.

"Oh, don't worry, Weasley. I'm not here to get all chummy." He scoffed and turned back towards Harry, placing his hands inside his pockets.

"Tonight, Potter. After curfew, Go to the Trophy Room and face me." Draco challenged Harry.

The raven haired boy blinked and turned to look at (Y/N), who was facepalming and didn't expect the duel to happen so soon.

Hermione and Ron grew nervous at the challenge that Draco dared to Harry.

I mean, it could definitely give him trouble and an injury or two.

"What, you're scared?" Draco scoffed and smirked, trying to get under Harry's skin. Seeing the sudden angered look that Harry had, he smirks further.

Harry stands up and faces him, bravery and determination filled in his eyes.

"You better not run away, Malfoy." Harry's eyes glistened. (Y/N) inwardly laughed; she knows that Draco wouldn't even go in the first place.

"I have no intention to." After that, Draco walks away from them and walks back to the Slytherin table.

He surely does have no intention to run away.

Because (Y/N) is on the line.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

❝ **When all's said and done, all roads lead to the same end.**  
 **So it's not so much which road you take,**  
 **As how you take it.** ❞


	8. I - VII:「Unforseen Knowledge」

❝ **I only want to feel your lips crash into mine.  
If it crashes on to someone else,  
I'll be sure to rip out yours so you won't do it again.**❞

»»————- ♡ ————-««

My eyes trace around the page and processing the information inside my brain. I flip another page as soon as I was done with the current one. It has always been a hobby of mine to read books in the morning and knowing that classes won't start until 9, I went to the library and skipped breakfast.  
  
This particular book is about Transfiguration. The subject hadn't left my mind after Professor McGonagall transformed into an orange tabby cat and gave us some basic knowledge about Transfiguration yesterday. It seemed very interesting so I wanted to learn more about it.  
  
As I kept reading, I noticed a shadow towering me. I blinked and looked up from my book, wondering who could've approached me. "You're Alem Rosewood, yes?" A dark haired girl asked with a book about Magical Creatures held close to her chest. Judging from the badge on her robes, she was a Gryffindor.   
  
My nervousness started to peak and I clearly don't know how to respond, especially to a girl. However, I regained my composure and sent the dark haired girl a smile.  
  
"Yes, I am." Confirming her. The dark haired girl pointed at another girl who's sitting not too far from my table. The girl was blonde and her hair was curly. She was also a Gryffindor. I began to sense red flags around my brain when I saw her blushing.  
  
"My friend likes you. Her name's Lavender Brown." I felt a lump on my throat as she said that. I clearly don't know how to respond. How did someone like me already?  
  
"O-Oh, tell her I said... hi?" I respond, almost unsure. Lavender Brown's dark haired friend nods while grinning and skips happily towards the table where Lavender Brown sat. I could hear them squeal after a while and I immediately felt uncomfortable since I could feel Brown's stare on mine.  
  
Not wanting to put up with the awkwardness any longer, I stood up and placed the book back to where it belonged. Once my eyes landed on Brown's, I waved at her so it wouldn't make it seem like I'm rude or anything. Brown waved back with a shocked expression and a huge blush tinting her freckled cheeks. After that, I left the library.  
  
So much for peace and tranquility.  
  
»»————- ♡ ————-««  
  
As I walked towards the class with the golden trio, I was immediately greeted by Alem, who looked exhausted and uncomfortable at the same time. I told the golden trio to go ahead and asked Alem where he went. When he responded, I hum understandingly and started to walk to class with my brother.  
  
I told him all about what happened this morning, how I became friends with Harry, Ron and Hermione, how Ron's comfortable with me now and how Draco challenged Harry to a duel in the Trophy Room this evening after curfew. Alem was baffled at Draco's challenge to Harry.  
  
"Challenging a student after curfew? Those two things are all you need for you to get expelled from Hogwarts in an instant! He doesn't even think at all!" Alem facepalmed but I couldn't give my opinion just yet. Maybe he had a reason but whatever it is, it must be a pretty stupid reason.  
  
However, it wasn't just me who gave a mini story of what happened this morning. Apparently, Alem's got an admirer now. I laughed and teased my brother by nudging him on the side. However, once I knew that it was Lavender Brown, I gave him a look of disgust and stopped teasing him.  
  
Daft dimbo, as what Hermione called her as, shouldn't get near to my brother and spread her snogging disease on him. I have to make sure of that. Upon hearing about that dark haired friend, I assume that it was Romilda Vane. Another daft dimbo I have to watch out for.  
  
Lavender almost destroyed my hope of having Romione or Herron happening.  
  
"Alem, you're not gonna go for either of those two, are you?" I gave him a look of disgust, hoping that he would answer with a no. I'm fine with anyone getting in on with my dream brother but no, not those two.  
  
Actually, three if you include Pansy Parkinson.  
  
Millicent Bullstrode is also a candidate and Cho Chang is... well, if this goes exactly like in the book then yes, she's a candidate.  
  
Alem replicated my look of disgust and shook his head vigorously. "No, of course not!" He answered, almost shouting. I laughed and pat him on the back, giving him a small slap on the end.   
  
"That's my boy!" I grin as we arrived at our classroom.  
  
»»————- ♡ ————-««

As usual, I attended my classes and as expected, Professor Binn's History class is just so boring that if I could sleep, then I definitely could. The only two people who weren't sleeping were Hermione and Alem. 

How could those two stay up?

The rest of the class ended up sleeping, others were on the edge of falling off their seats and others were one second away from having their eyes closed. Professor Quirrell's class made me nervous the most. 

I knew that Voldemort was hiding beneath his turban and I kept my eyes on it at all times. However, I made sure that Professor Quirrell didn't catch me staring or else it'd be too obvious.

As the first book accurately described, his classroom smelled of garlic that I almost felt lightheaded due to me, not breathing because of the smell. I couldn't focus at all in his class. 

It's a good thing that Alem's so focused. Maybe I could ask him for help later and explain to me all the things that Professor Quirrell said. 

As DADA class was over, I immediately packed up my things and walked out of the classroom. When I was finally outside, I took a huge gulp of air and felt relief of finally having to breathe fresh air again. 

Alem walked up to me, confused as he held his bag. "Why did you just run off?" He asked.

"His classroom endlessly smelled like garlic. I can't breathe properly if it smells that bad." I whisper-yelled while taking another huge gulp of air. Alem simply laughed at my answer, patting my back and shaking his head at the same time. 

"You're such a child sometimes, you know that?" He said, smiling but I gave him a glare, not amused by what he just said.

"O-Oh, you t-two are still h-here?" I heard Professor Quirrell ask. We both turned to look at him but both of us had a different expression. I looked very surprised but Alem dropped his smile and gave Professor Quirrell a poker-face.

"I apologize, Professor. We'll be on our way." Alem said, grabbing my hand. However, Professor Quirrell stopped him by waving his hands around. 

"N-No, no! I-It's q-quite fine...! I w-would like t-to talk t-to M-Miss/M-Mr Rosewood..." Professor Quirrell lands his eyes on mine. My shoulders twitched and I immediately began to feel nervous. My stomach began to hurt at the nervousness that my body is radiating.

"Oh, alright then." Alem turns to look at me. "I'll see you in class, alright?" He smirks teasingly, his look obviously saying that 'well, you're in trouble'. I rolled my eyes at his teasing smirk as he walked away with his (H/C) hair bouncing at every step he took.

"So, um... Professor, what's up?" My grip on my bag tightened. Now, I'm just making it too obvious that I know everything. Professor Quirrell blushes out of embarrassment and hands me a blank paper. My eyebrows rose in confusion as I stared at the sheet for a few seconds before flicking my eyes over to Professor Quirrell.

"Uh, Professor? What am I supposed to do with this?" I ask, holding up the paper. However, Professor Quirrell just smiled and placed his hands behind his back. 

"Y-You k-keep it, Miss/Mr R-Rosewood!" He said before bashfully walking away. I blinked thrice before wondering about what that was about. 

I mean, Professor Quirrell giving me a blank paper just for me to keep? What am I even supposed to do with a paper?

Well, to doodle and draw when I'm on the edge of falling asleep in Professor Binn's class but I'm sure that Professor Quirrell has a reason as to why he just gave me a blank paper.

I mean, come on, Voldemort's right at the back of his head and he's lowkey controlling him!

Wait, maybe it has an invisible ink in it or something? Maybe there's something written in the paper but it's concealed?

I narrowed my eyes and pulled my wand out from my wand holder. "What was it...?" I mumble, trying to remember the spell that Snape used in Prisoner of Azkaban when he found Harry wandering around the halls with the Marauder's Map.

Come on, (Y/N). You just watched the whole 8 films of Harry Potter before diving into this dream world, you've got to know the spell. 

"Revelio." I point my wand at the paper but nothing happened. I grumble though knowing that Revelio isn't exactly a spell for these kinds of things. It's only useful for disguises.

"Ooh!" I beamed, suddenly remembering the spell that Snape used. Just as I was about to cast the spell, I heard a loud mocking voice at the end of the hallway. 

I quickly turned around and saw Peeves floating and grinning mischievously at the sight of a student all alone in the halls while the others are probably in class right now and they could very well be accused of skipping classes if Filch were to find out.

I stared at the ghost for a moment before booking my way out of the hall and towards my class for Study of Ancient Runes. In the distance, I could hear Peeves singing an annoying song of how one of the Rosewoods are hanging out in the halls and are skipping the class. 

I rolled my eyes but I smiled. I couldn't get mad at my favorite ghost.He did earned my respect after he caused Umbridge a lot of trouble after George and Fred left, living up to the will of the two troublemakers and cause the pink toad some frustration.

Once I arrived at the classroom, all eyes were on me. Professor Babbling looked up to me. She was clearly intimidating even though she held a look of kindness. 

"And why is it you're 10 minutes late, Mr/Miss Rosewood?" She asked, her voice echoing around the classroom. The entire class looked at me, waiting for my answer. In the corner of my eye, I could see Draco smirking at me.

"Professor Quirrell wanted to talk to me after classes. I apologize if I disrupted the lesson due to my tardiness." I bow down slightly. Professor Babbling blinked and flashed me a warm smile, beckoning me to sit down with my fellow Slytherins. 

"Very well, Mr/Miss Rosewood. You may take a seat." I nod at the professor and quickly glanced around the classroom to see where Alem sat so I could sit next to him. However, as soon as I spotted my twin, he was already seated next to a girl. I don't know who she is. 

I grumbled, looking around and spotted the only available seat there is. I look to see who occupied the seat next to the available one and saw Draco. Just when my eyes landed on his, I immediately blushed as I noticed that Draco stared back at me. His eyes were already telling me to go sit next to him since there's no other seats left.

Seeing that I had no choice, I went and sat next to Draco, setting down my bag. I take a quick glance at the unopened book that Draco had in front of him and went to my own bag, taking out the same book and flipping it open. 

"Hey, what page?" I whisper to the Malfoy heir. "Professor Babbling didn't say anything else yet." He puts up an annoyed look and rolls his eyes. I shrug and closed it again, listening to the Study of Ancient Runes professor but my mind wandered off to something else that isn't related to the subject at all. But, my imagination was cut off as I whispered to Draco again. 

"Why did you challenge Potter to a duel?" I asked while keeping my eye contact to Professor Babbling. I felt Draco shift in his seat. Maybe he was just scooting away from me because I just talked to him all of a sudden.

"Like I said, it's none of your business." The platinum haired Slytherin seethed. I huff at his persistence. Though I knew the actual reason as to why he challenged Harry to a duel in the first place, I couldn't help but feel that this time, the reason's different. My gut wants to trust the fact yet my gut also wants to trust the lingering thought in the back of my head.

"We're fellow Slytherins. Why is it none of my business?" I frown as Draco scoffed.

"Do you think that I consider you as one of my acquaintances?" He smirks smugly. "Think again, (Y/N)." Draco added. I internally laughed at how he just contradicted his own words. I couldn't help but chuckle softly when he said that he doesn't think of me as one of his acquaintances.

"Alright so why did you let me call you by your first name AND called me by my first name if you don't consider me as one of your acquaintances?" As soon as I asked that, Draco blushed furiously. It was cute, seeing him like that. 

"Also, no, it's also my business. Challenging a student to a duel if it's not permitted or official is illegal, Draco. You could potentially get expelled if you were to harm Harry and you're going to add more fuel into the feud between the two houses." When I said that, it seemed like I was only concerned for Harry and not for the well being of Draco.

"Actually, both of you would get expelled if you two were to harm each other." I tried to make it look like I also care for Draco but I'm just so bad at wording things. But seeing Draco's softened expression made me think otherwise.

"And sneaking out after curfew to the throphy room? Do you even know how Filch goes ballistic over catching students who conduct misbehavior of any kind? If he or his cat finds you, you'd probably need to blast your way out back in the common room unless you want to get in trouble." Draco's eyes looked troubled for a moment but then they immediately lighted up as if he had thought of an idea. 

Just by his look alone, I can tell what's running through he's mind. He'll probably tell Filch that there'll be students in the Trophy Room tonight and he won't go.

Perfect, I won't even have to go and change anything at all. Just the same world but I was just inserted as a side character.

I didn't say anything else to Draco and neither did he. So, we continued to listen to Professor Babbling about Ancient Runes and I understood everything that she said. Usually, I won't understand anything at all but this place is an exception.

At the end of the lesson, Professor Babbling gave us some homework to do. I'll ask Alem for help later if I don't understand anything or just need some clarifications. Packing everything up, I walk out of the classroom and felt a poke on my shoulder as I passed through the door.

I turn around and saw Alem, his eyes narrowed. "What were you and Malfoy talking about?" I internally sigh at his question. 

Does he always have the need to pry and know everything that Draco and I do? I understand that our families dislike each other and we are supposed to hate him but jeez, if I have to deal with Alem being like this all the time, I'd probably have a migraine.

"It was nothing. I just asked him about why he challenged Harry to a duel a while ago." I shrug. Turning into a corner while Alem followed beside me. 

"And? What did he say?" He asked while keeping his eyes on the path.

"He said it was none of my business." I snicker at the end to make it seem like it was just a joke and it didn't really hurt me at all. Alem, however, grumbled and held his bag tight. 

"Foul git." He mumbled.

"Well, it's technically my fault anyway. I keep prying into everyone's business." My eyes scan the small courtyard and stopped at a certain figure. 

A slightly, curly haired boy sat underneath the tree while laughing along with his group of Hufflepuff friends. I recognize that face and it really hurts me.

Cedric Diggory sat there with his carefree look and his beaming smile almost countering the sun shining above the school. I frown and blush at the same time. He looks really cute, even if he's far and I could feel my heart slightly skip a beat. But, my sad half-lidded eyes immediately thought that I shouldn't go and get myself too attached at the Hufflepuff.

I know that he'll die soon.I blinked and my lips slightly parted at a sudden thought. Maybe I could prevent his death now that I know that he's going to die in the Triwizard Tournament.

Cedric's eyes eventually landed on mine. He stared for a moment until he gave me a warm smile that immediately made me blush heavily and look away frantically. Salazar, I didn't expect him to catch me staring.

As I looked away, I could see Alem peering through my flustered expression with a snicker. "Did I just witness (Y/N) Rosewood blush while staring at a Hufflepuff boy?" Alem teased and nudging me from the side. My blush deepened and I immediately started walking away with Alem following close.

Even when I walked away, I could still feel Cedric's eyes on mine. 

Why is he staring at me? Did I do something wrong?

"Shut it, Alem. I wasn't blushing." I pouted angrily and denied his statement. Alem chuckled and began to pat me on the back. Quite roughly, might I add. 

"Don't worry, sis/bro! I'll catch that boy's name for you if you want!" He laughed and retracted his hand away from my back as he kept looking at me with a playful look. I rolled my eyes at my brother's tease since it makes me feel even more embarrassed.

I feel like this is a payback from the teasing I gave him this morning.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

Cedric's eyes followed the young wizard/witch's form retreating back to the hallway along with their brother. As Cedric realized that the two looked the same, they must be the Rosewood twins and the one who was staring at him must be (Y/N), who was rumored to be a clairvoyant and that everyone's, at least, talking about besides Harry Potter.

No one really knows a lot about the Rosewood twins or their family in general since they keep their lives in private, or so his father told him. Their (H/C) hair and (E/C) eyes are simply one of a kind. You can easily spot them from a mile away and know that those two are the Rosewood twins.

He found (Y/N) to be interesting, at least. Especially from the way that they have been staring at him a while ago; their eyes were filled with sadness and their frown was clearly visible, as if they know that something bad is going to happen to them. However, once Cedric had gone out of his way to look back at the witch/wizard, the sad look disappeared and a flustered look made its way to their face.

But, Cedric immediately lets it go, knowing that it might just be something else that (Y/N) was thinking about. 

"Hey, Ced. The next class is about to start." One of his friends stated, standing up from the ground and dusting off any dirt that might've gotten onto their robe. 

"Oh, alright." Cedric also stood up, grabbing his bag and waiting for his friends to lead the way.In the corner of his eye, he could spot a black haired girl with the Ravenclaw badge looking at him with the same flustered look that (Y/N) held. 

However, he could feel a slight twinge of uninterest growing in his heart. It wasn't the same as how (Y/N) was deeply staring into his eyes.

Though noticed that the Ravenclaw girl had been staring at him, Cedric didn't bother to go and give her a smile as an act of kindness like he did to the (H/C) haired Slytherin. 

He felt strange; he hadn't done such things before.

Brushing off any unnecessary thoughts away from his mind, he walks away with his friends towards class.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

After slightly suffering in Potions with Professor Snape, dealing with a little bit of a problem in Transfigurations with Professor McGonagall and having to deal with paying attention in Charms due to Seamus trying to practice something with his wand with Professor Flitwick, the day is finally over and I head back to the common room after having dinner in the Great Hall with Alem and the golden trio.

"Can you imagine the load of work they've given us? It's still the second day!" I groan and plop myself in the bed, silently grumbling while hugging my pillow to soothe my inner stress that's starting to bubble up inside me. Alem laughed and kept his Slytherin robe away.

"I told you; they won't go easy on us today." Alem went to his bag and grabbed three books. I couldn't even go and bother to check the books that he took out of his bag. 

"Could you help me with Snape's essay?" I gave him a puppy-eyed look with my lips pouting as I try to make Alem help me.He glanced over at my pleading look and narrowed his eyes. 

"Just Snape's essay?" He tries to confirm. I break my pleading expression and made a crooked smile, looking over to the side to avoid Alem's death glare. 

"Err... All the lessons and the homeworks... I guess?" I chuckle to lighten up the mood.Silence took ahold of the room until Alem sighed. 

"Fine. It's better than having you fail and have nothing to turn in." I grin and jumped at my brother, hugging him tightly. 

"Thanks, Alem! You're the best brother ever!" I exclaim and let him out of my grasp.

"You're just saying that because I'm helping you with lessons and homeworks." 

He rolls his eyes and flips his book open. He blinks and turns to look at me, confused. 

"What?" I ask him.

"Nothing, it's just... Your robe has a different smell." Alem stated, beckoning for me to take my robe. My eyebrow raises in confusion as I remove my robe and sniff it for a moment. I blinked thrice once I take in the scent. 

It doesn't smell like the perfume I have in my luggage. It's more... strong and... manly?

"It doesn't smell bad, does it? I mean, I did sweat a lot this afternoon." I frown softly but Alem shook his head, sniffing the robe. 

"You didn't use my perfume, did you?" He asked, frowning. I opened my mouth to retaliate but he immediately stopped me. 

"No, it doesn't smell like mine either." He mumbled but was loud enough for me to hear. 

"Also, it looks way too big on you. Are you sure you didn't swap any robes with anyone or something?" He throws the robe towards me and I immediately catched it with my arms. 

"Alem, I know I'm an idiot but I'm not that stupid." I grumble, hanging the robe to the wall next to my four-poster bed, brushing the topic off.

"Also, maybe it's just our imagination. I mean, we did suffer a lot from the garlic smell in Professor Quirrell's class." I shrug and sat on my bed, facing my brother. Alem laughed and wrapped his fingers around his book. 

"Well, you're right about that." He said, continuing to read the book. I stare at his studying form for a little while until I realized that I needed to do something that I should've done a while ago.

The door to our room opens and there comes in Draco. He looks at us for a moment before heading towards his bed. 

"You're getting ready or something?" I ask Draco while he removed his robe. 

"No, I'm not going." And it was just as I predicted. I chuckle as he took his pajamas from his luggage. 

"I thought you had no intentions of running away." I tease the Malfoy heir and he only sent me a death glare.

Without saying another word, Draco walked towards the bathroom with his pajamas on his arms. I snicker before getting to my bag and take the blank paper that Professor Quirrell gave me a while ago, which was tucked in safely between the pages of my Potions book.

I took my wand out and pointed at the blank paper. Alem's head rose from the book, staring at me pointing my wand against the blank paper. 

"What are you doing?" He asks, peering over to the blank paper.

"Aparecium." I cast. 

Suddenly, the blank paper didn't seem blank at all. Words started to appear in the paper, flowing in like water. My eyes glance around the paper and my eyes immediately narrowed as my grip on the paper slightly tightened.

_I know who you are.  
You know who I am.  
We have one thing in common, Mr/Miss Rosewood;  
Apparently, we are not supposed to exist.  
I would like to ask you for your help.  
Surely, you must know about the item that I am after, yes?  
We both want to survive.  
We can do extraordinary things together with your power and mine.  
If you wish to do this, come see me tonight in the Trophy Room._

I clicked my tongue. There's only one other person who knows what I actually am and that I'm only dreaming this world and they told Professor Quirrell and Voldemort in the process. I can't tell if Erised is trying to kill me or what.

But now, what am I going to do? The problematic in this first year's onto me and he wants to know if I want to work with him. Merlin's beard, of course not! There's no way I'd be working with Voldemort!I don't even want to play on the villain's side this time. I've got to take all the good times I need to get from the adventures I'm going to have here in this dream world. Being a Death Eater isn't all fun and games and I could potentially be locked up in Azkaban and rotting away from the boredom that I couldn't even escape.

"Are you sure you casted it right?" Alem asked, looking at me with a doubtful look. 

"What do you mean? It worked. Can't you see the letter?" I held it up for him to get a closer look. He squinted his eyes but shook his head, still not being able to see anything.

"Who gave it to you?" He asked, leaning away from me and taking his book back again. I stopped for a moment to think of a good lie. I can't let Alem get involved in this by telling him that Professor Quirrell gave me this letter. 

"I just found it on one of the desks. I thought it'd be good for doodling but I can't seem to draw on it so I thought it's a hidden letter." I shrug, folding the letter back up again and tucked it between the pages of my Potions book.

"What did it say?" He pried even further. 

"Just some love letter from a guy named Simon to a girl named Anne." Thank goodness my brain immediately thought of a name. Alem hummed understandingly and resumed his work. I closed my eyes in relief.

I dropped my body to my bed as I stared at the ceiling and trying to think of multiple scenarios of how I'm going to handle my first year.

But, now what am I going to do? Should I even go or what?

»»————- ♡ ————-««

"I saw the way they looked at that Hufflepuff boy." Draco seethed, looking at himself on the mirror as he remembered (Y/N)'s flustered look as they stared at Cedric Diggory. He clutched on to the edges of the sink with their teeth gritted.

"So many filthy maggots trying to steal what is mine. They will know their place soon enough." He breathes, trying to relief himself from the anger that he kept inside himself this whole day. He had to deal with Harry, Ron and Hermione and now, Cedric Diggory?

"But," Draco suddenly remembered how (Y/N) started up a conversation with him a while ago during Study of Ancient Runes class. He blushes heavily and smiles at the memory, feeling his heart beat and a warm feeling enveloping his body. 

"When (Y/N) talking to me, and only me, feels like we're the only ones in the world and no one is trying to keep us away from each other." Draco smiles, chuckling to himself.

"I'll make sure it stays that way without anyone interfering with us." His eyes glinted dangerously as he picked up his wand and stared at it for a moment. A wide smirk formed in his mouth as Harry's defeated body popped inside his head. 

"Ready yourself, Potter." With half-lidded eyes, he looks out into the window and kept his stare at the bright light of the moon.

"It wasn't nice for me to lie and be rude to my little serpent but," He shrugs, taking his uniform and the robe that originally belonged to (Y/N) along with him. "It's better than having them go and save Potter's back though I know that the weasel and that mudblood will do it anyway." 

The Malfoy heir chuckles, thinking of multiple ways of getting his rivals out of the picture.Draco will do anything in order to keep the obstacles out of the picture.

And to keep the oldest Rosewood twin for himself even if it meant defying his father.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

❝ **Is this the end?  
Or is it simply the beginning?**❞


	9. I - VIII:「Eyes That Lie」

**❝Just love me the way I love you.❞**

**»»————- ♡ ————-««**

The light of the moon endlessly poured inside the room where (Y/N), Draco, Alem, Crabbe and Goyle resided, creating a dim yet mystical atmosphere inside the room that would make one sleepy in a matter of seconds.

However, this wasn't the case for the Malfoy heir, who kept his silver eyes open while keeping his longing stare at the bed where (Y/N) slept with their back turned and their blanket drawn over their body.

No patch of (H/C) hair can be seen and no light snores could be heard, indicating that their a silent and light sleeper but their petite body shape can be seen from the blanket draped over their body.

Draco smiled but it immediately faded as he heard the distant chime from the clock in the common room, signalling the arrival of midnight.

The platinum blonde haired boy breathed a small sigh before throwing the blankets off of his body gently and sat up on the side of his four poster bed.

The curtains that were slightly drawn around his bed were eventually drawn away for Draco to get out of bed.

He stepped out of his bed and slipped his slippers on before glancing over at everyone's bed to ensure that they're all asleep.

Alem lightly snored before shifting in his position and hugging his pillow with a soft groan.

Goyle sprawled his legs across the bed, his one leg hanging off and his blanket almost falling off.

Crabbe is mumbling unintelligible things in his sleep but only (Y/N) was silent and not doing anything in their sleep.

Which is what Draco liked about them; they weren't annoying, even while they're sleeping.

The platinum blonde haired boy smiled before picking his wand up from his nightstand.

He examined his wand for a moment before walking over to the door of the room but just as he opened the door to exit the room, he glanced back at (Y/N) sleeping form and smiled one last time.

 _"I won't be long."_ He thought before turning the doorknob and stepping out of the room that he resided in.

After stepping outside the threshold, Draco slowly and silently pulled the door close but a small creaking sound erupted from the hinges of the door but it was not enough to wake the others up so he is safe.

With silent steps, Draco made his way towards the entrance of the Slytherin common room.

Luckily for the platinum blonde haired boy, the fat lady in the painting who guards the common room is nowhere to be found tonight, presumably because she often goes out during the night to talk to the other paintings for reasons unknown.

So as Draco swiped the painting sideways to reveal the darkened staircase that led to the main hallways of the school, he gave out a small huff of uncertainty before stepping out of the Slytherin common room and gently swiped the painting back to how it was positioned before.

Since the common room is in the dungeons and underneath the Black Lake, the boy has to take a long detour towards the trophy room in order to encounter Harry since there's a chance that he might encounter one or two professors or even head students and prefects on patrol.

Draco slightly raised his wand and conjured a spell to brighten up his surroundings since he can barely see anything.

He had to be careful as to not cause any disruption for the paintings though as they're known to be quite loud when they're awoken by something in the middle of the night.

As the platinum blonde haired boy's surroundings have been lit up, he eventually began to climb up the stairs and walking his way towards the trophy room.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

"I'm telling you; this is a bad idea!" Hermione whisper yelled at the two boy Gryffindors in front of her who were eager to go to the place where Draco had told them to go.

However, the two didn't pay attention to the brown haired girl and instead, they were on the look out for any professors or any students who were on patrol tonight since they can't get caught.

"Y-Yeah, I think we should... go back?" Neville, who also miraculously tagged along for unknown reasons, stammered and kept close to his house mates in case anything bad happens to him.

He saw Harry and Ron trying to sneak out of the Gryffindor common room at midnight with Hermione in front of the entrance to try and stop the two from going.

Neville just intervened and sided with Hermione, hoping that Harry and Ron will change their mind and just move on to the next day but of course, the determined raven haired boy refused and ignored the pleads of his fellow house mates to which Ron also did and followed Harry towards the trophy room.

Ron, who was starting to get fed up of Hermione and Neville's warnings and, overall, their presence, turned to look at them with an annoyed look visible on his features.

"So why did you two even bother to come with us? If you were so hung up on the rules and didn't want to get yourself in trouble, you could've just stayed and let us do our own thing." He frowned while walking silently and slowly behind Harry, who was starting to get annoyed of how the three Gryffindors are starting to argue with one another in the middle of the night.

"I know that you two won't listen to me either way so the least I can do is get you two out of trouble and pretend that none of this ever happened again." Hermione stated with an eye roll, almost ignoring Neville's attempt to change Harry's mind from going to the trophy room.

She looked behind her to see if anyone is coming but she turned to look at the two Gryffindors in front of her again when she confirmed that no one was coming from behind her. 

"Gee, thanks." Ron mumbled underneath his breath and silently scoffed at his fellow Gryffindor's words.

He immediately thought that Hermione doesn't trust the two of them and that they would immediately get in trouble without her.

Though Ron doesn't know that they can _indeed_ get in trouble without someone who could control them or, in other words, get them back to their senses in order to avoid trouble.

And who can do this better other than Hermione?

"Is that the trophy room?" Harry stopped in his tracks and slightly raised his wand to get a better look at the door that led to the room where the duel would take place.

Obviously, he was nervous but his Gryffindor inside him wouldn't let him back out.

He couldn't just go and prove that Draco is better than him without a fight after all.

"Seriously, if something bad happens to the both of you, I'm not going to be responsible for that." Hermione gave one last warning to both Harry and Ron but unsurprisingly, they didn't listen and instead walked towards the door silently.

Hermione sighed and glanced over beside her to see that Neville is hesitating and obviously uncomfortable of how things are going on right now.

"Come on, Neville." Hermione beckons for her fellow Gryffindor to follow her as she walks away with Neville rapidly following in suit in fears of being left alone in a dark hallway.

But just as Hermione had followed close behind Harry and Ron, she immediately became skeptical as she glanced over at the door and if one looks at it close enough, you can see that the door is slightly open which indicates that someone is already inside.

Though Hermione believes that it might just be Draco, there's something inside of her that makes her think that it's not who she thinks it is behind those doors.

Harry seemed to have noticed Hermione's skeptical stare at the door and followed her gaze.

He's just as skeptical as Hermione is when he realized that the door is already slightly opened.

"The door is already open." Harry whispered but loud enough for the four to hear him.

Neville silently whimpered and immediately thought of worst case scenarios right on the top of his head.

"That must be Malfoy. Let's go." Ron narrowed his eyes and was about to push the door open with his hand but Hermione grabbed his wrist before he could, indicating that there was something wrong with all of this. 

"No, wait. It couldn't be him." She stated, glancing over at the small crack that the door had and you can see a small dimly lit light inside.

Ron clicked his tongue and turned to look at Hermione with narrowed eyes, ready to tell her that she's overreacting but seeing her serious look made Ron close his mouth and stayed silent for a short second.

Everyone was quiet for a moment until a soft yet somewhat strict voice came from the trophy room and it didn't resemble Draco's, causing the four Gryffindors to stop and listen to the conversation that's happening inside the room.

"...and why do you think so?" After hearing the voice that didn't resemble any student, Neville made a small squeaking sound that came from his fear of getting caught by a professor.

Hermione lightly slapped his arm, indicating him to stay quiet and not blow their cover.

"Because I trust them, professor." A familiar small voice answered and Harry couldn't help but feel that the amount of trust and belief that this student must have for someone must be large enough that you can actually tell that they mean it. 

"Do you reckon that it's a prefect?" Ron asked to the group in a whispered voice to identify who this mysterious student could be however, Ron received no response as the sound of footsteps echoed inside the trophy room and it seems to be approaching towards the door.

The group panicked, not knowing what to do.

"Turn it off!" Hermione turned to look at Harry's lit wand.

Harry, who managed to get Hermione's message despite the fact that he's also in a panic, disabled the light that came out of the wand, rendering their surroundings in darkness with only the moonlight of the large windows from the hallways giving them any source of light.

"Ah! I can't see anything!" Ron softly exclaimed, waving his hands around to try and feel anything from the darkness.

His hand made its way to Neville's face, specifically, his cheek.

"Ow! Ron, it's me!" Neville whimpered from the small pain that Ron made by almost slapping his cheek and brought his hand up to rub and soothe the throbbing part.

"Can't you guys be quiet?" Harry almost raised his voice to his normal range due to his annoyance and also tried to feel his way around the darkness.

He almost made contact with Hermione's arm but only felt her long bushy hair around his fingers. 

Hermione, who felt a tall, rough, rocky texture on her right hand, made her think that it must be a tall pillar.

Even though it wasn't the best hiding place for the four of them, it's better than being exposed to a professor right in front of the doorway.

"Come on, this way!" The female Gryffindor grabbed the nearest person next to her and it was Harry, dragging him behind the pillar.

Harry, who reacted quickly from his housemate's words, also grabbed Ron by his forearm just as Hermione dragged the raven haired boy away in order to drag the redhead along with him.

Neville, who realized and heard shuffling footsteps are drawing away from him, tried to follow the shuffling footsteps that his housemates made through the darkness and eventually bumped into Harry's body.

The raven haired boy groaned slightly from the impact of Neville's body but nonetheless, kept quiet about it.

Within a second, the door opened and the creaking sound slightly echoed around the silent hallway.

Eventually, the professor walked away from the room and his footsteps disappeared in the distance.

Once the group made sure that the professor is gone, they peeked out from their hiding spot, only to be greeted by a bright light appearing right on their faces.

Neville exclaimed in surprise and almost fell down on Ron but immediately caught himself before he could bring the redhead Gryffindor down with him.

"Huh? Why are you guys here?" The student asked in confusion but how they asked it seemed as if they already knew what their reason was for coming.

The group turned to look at the student, hoping that it wasn't a head girl or boy or a prefect who's in patrol, after they've gotten used to the bright light that's being shoved right on their faces.

"(Y/N)?" Harry was even more confused than the (H/C) haired Slytherin when he saw their presence in the trophy room, specifically, in front of the trophy room.

He was sure that they had no business in the duel whatsoever unless they had some sort of business with that professor they were talking with.

What the hell were they doing here?

»»————- ♡ ————-««

What the hell was Neville doing with them?

I glanced confusedly at the other Gryffindor who stood beside Ron and Harry since I know that he wasn't supposed to come with them.

Did this world follow the book? But even so, did Neville even come with them in the book? 

How confusing, I don't know how to deal with this. 

"What are you doing here?" Ron asked, almost in an aggressive manner.

I was slightly offended of how Ron asked that questions since he's implying that I must be doing something bad for being out here so late.

It's not like I can tell them that I was here to refuse Quirrell's or, more precisely, Voldemort's invitation of joining his side. 

"I was here to talk with a professor, Quirrell, specifically." I rose my eyebrow, eyeing Ron.

"And what about you? I thought you two aren't dumb enough to actually accept Draco's duel because he's obviously not going to come." As I said that, Harry and Ron looked at each other in disbelief.

After a while, the redhead smirked and almost scoffed.

"He's the one who challenged us; why is he running away?" The confidence that oozed from the Weasley made me smile.

I mean, he's not wrong though; if he's the one who challenged us, he shouldn't run away.

But I guess, this is Draco's way of 'winning' without suffering from the consequences.

To be honest, I would try to 'win' something without having to risk my life as well so I kind of get where Draco is coming from.

"Never mind that! If he's not coming then we just wasted our time coming here and risked ourselves being found out by someone else!" Hermione exclaimed and looked around, in fear of being seen by a professor.

I found Hermione's panicked look funny and I managed to chuckle silently since I can't seem to hold myself in once I know what's going to happen next. 

I didn't have to worry about a thing; it's a pro of being in the fictional world of your favorite series.

"And who said that I'm not coming, Granger?" Until that familiar voice caught me off guard and made me drop my smile.

I turned around with my wand raised in surprise and to my disbelief, Draco Malfoy stood there, the tip of his wand also giving off a bright light, making our surroundings more clear than ever. 

Wait, what the fuck?

"Draco?" I asked, another set of confusing emotions rushing through my mind as I take in the platinum blonde haired boy's appearance in front of me.

This wasn't supposed to happen.

What is happening right now?

The male Slytherin turned his head towards mine and just like me, he was also surprised to see my figure standing right next to the Gryffindors.

"(Y/N)? What are you doing here?" He asked, eyeing me from bottom to top as if he was trying to confirm that it's actually me who he's seeing and not some hallucination that he's having.

He probably thought that I was already asleep. Did he even bother to lift the blankets up to see that it's just my large ass pillows lined up together to make it seem like there's someone underneath it?

I mean, he probably doesn't care that much but still, it should've gave him a little hint of suspicion.

"Scratch that, what are _you_ doing here? I thought you weren't going to come?" I gulped, suddenly not knowing how this scenario would play out.

I didn't expect Draco to show up because he shouldn't _have_ shown up.

This is the result of only relying on my canonical knowledge of the Harry Potter series and not thinking of any other possibilities since my actions could obviously change things up drastically in this world.

"I only said that so you wouldn't come up to me and convince me not to go." He rolled his eyes and landed them on Harry's group.

"Those Gryffindors are your _precious_ friends after all and you wouldn't want them to get hurt, would you?" Draco rolled his eyes in sarcasm when he spat the word 'precious'.

I bit my lip and realized that I guess I've been spending too much time with Harry and the others that I'm not spending time with my own housemates.

Heck, I probably don't even know almost all of the other first years or even the house prefect.

"Can we just... tone it down a bit and start things over?" Hermione piped in once I fell silent. Before she continued, she takes a deep breath and looks at the two of us.

"Alright then," The female Gryffindor turned to look at me with a serious look on her eye to which I felt intimidated by and I can tell that I shouldn't fuck around with her right now.

"(Y/N), you said that Draco wasn't going to come right?" She asked and I seriously wanted to sass on her but I was too afraid on the possibility that I might get my body flown to the other end of the hallway if I do.

In the corner of my eye, I could see Draco rolling his eyes and crossing both of his arms in annoyance of how Hermione took control of this confusing situation.

"Since he said that, you don't have any business with any of this duel rubbish since you would immediately jump to the conclusion that everything would be alright tonight." Hermione said and I looked to the side with a shrug.

"I guess so?" The way I said that came out more as a question rather than an answer but Hermione nodded nonetheless, acknowledging my answer.

"So in order to clear this up for all of us, what exactly were you doing here then?" She asked and I stayed silent for a moment, glancing at all of them who waited for my response.

I sighed. "Professor Quirrell wanted to discuss something private and he wanted to see me tonight at the trophy room for that." I crossed my arms and it's not like I wasn't telling the truth.

"Discussing something private in a room where the duel would take place?" She narrowed her eyes skeptically at my answer.

"Isn't that too much of a coincidence?" Hermione added and I can see that Ron is somewhat agreeing with what she just said, considering that he was also throwing skeptical glances towards my way.

"It's not like he knew that all of you are going to have a duel in the trophy room, did he?" I rose my eyebrow, dropping my hands to my side.

"I didn't tell him anything about that so it's just a coincidence, as hard as it is to believe." I tilt my head towards the room.

The Gryffindors looked at each other, thinking if what I said was true.

Honestly, if they think about it, if any professor were to find out that a private duel between two students would take place, they would immediately report it to the headmaster or even get themselves detention.

I mean, unless that professor was Snape or probably even McGonagall, they wouldn't have to worry about being expelled.

"Too private that you have to sneak out of the common room?" Harry piped in and I internally screamed, wondering why he had to jump in the conversation and potentially get me marked as suspicious.

Then again, it's not like I wasn't suspicious enough in the first place for being able to 'predict' how or what certain things will happen in the future.

"Why, you want me to just stroll out of the common room and risk myself getting caught?" I sighed, becoming annoyed since I just want to move on with this conversation already.

"He did say that he wanted to talk about it during midnight and I don't think that, even with that reason, professors would just let me go because this is still violating rules." I looked down, tapping my foot to the ground just to kill some time.

I can feel their eyes skeptically glancing over at my head.

"If you're going to ask me about what we talked about; there's a reason why it's called 'private' so no, I'm not going to tell you." I glanced up at Harry who immediately closed his mouth, assuming that he was going to say something as a reply to my previous words. 

"So, can we move on? This cleared up any misunderstanding, right?" I scratched the back of my head.

The Gryffindors looked at each other again before sighing. Neville didn't seem to be that skeptical of me and I appreciated that.

At least, I don't have to deal with anything with him.

"Not all of them." Ron said after a few moments of silence, throwing glances at Draco and I.

Jesus, this boy doesn't really trust us, does he?

I had the urge to scoff and chuckle at how suspicious he was but if I did, then he probably would hate me forever and I would never be friends with him.

I have to remember that Ron is someone who dislikes the Slytherin house and doesn't see that there are also students who aren't taking part in any house prejudice.

I'm not saying that I'm technically a 'good' student. Like, if I was 'good', didn't have any motives and kept that oblivious self that I had on my first day here in Hogwarts, I would be anywhere else other than Slytherin. 

Oh, and how could I forget Harry and Hermione? Those two are suspicious all of the time when certain things happen.

This situation is no exception and I am the one who they're suspicious about but it's not like I can blame them for thinking that way.

I've always been unpredictable and lowkey acted as if I knew everything ever since my memories of my real world came back to me.

Not like I can hold myself back from trying to reveal anything to them anyway.

"Oh, put a sock on it, Weasley." Draco snapped, clicking his tongue at the redhead Gryffindor.

I can tell that he was starting to get annoyed of this situation and if I have to admit, I was starting to get annoyed too.

There is something clearly wrong about this whole thing so I'm frustrated that I don't know anything else that might happen next.

I rolled my eyes and turned my attention elsewhere as everyone was starting to talk to each other again, probably arguing.

If this keeps up, I'd get fed up of everyone's attitude and just fucking leave them there. I'm not in the mood to give everyone some motivational speech and sort things out.

Heck, this duel started because of those two dinguses. Why do I have to act as the medium?

I didn't even come here to join this dueling bullshit, I just came here to talk to Professor Quirrell and that no nosed fucker that I wasn't going to do whatever the fuck they wanted me to do.

But, to be fair, at least this action made me kill two birds in one stone.

Just as I was on the edge of screaming because everyone's still fighting, I saw a small moving figure in the distance but I couldn't see who it was since the hallway was too dark.

"Be quiet." I told everyone in a hasty manner but they could tell from my tone of voice that this was something serious.

Everything went quiet again and we all focused on that moving figure in the distance. The more it takes a step closer to where we are, the... smaller it gets?

Once the figure was now visible to our eyes and within the light from our wands, my eyes widened and turned to look at the Gryffindors who looked somewhat confused.

Hermione was the only one who had the same expression as I have.

"What's a cat doing here?" Draco remarked, cocking his eyebrow upward and glancing down at the furry animal with slight contempt.

I lightly slapped his forearm when he didn't recognize who the cat belonged to.

Honestly, this made me think that if this followed the original scene from the book where Draco didn't go to the duel, he probably didn't pay attention to the cat when he told Filch that there would be students tonight in the trophy room.

Then again, cats almost look exactly the same so he thought that it might be someone else's though Mrs. Norris' red eyes can easily differentiate her from other cats in this bloody castle.

"Are you serious?" I stepped back, closer to where Hermione stood.

"That's Filch's cat!" When I told the clueless bunch that, panic immediately settled into their faces.

My arm bumped into Neville's which made me acknowledge his presence again.

Oh yeah, this boy came with them.

But he's not supposed to. I think.

I turned to look at the Gryffindor boy and grabbed both of his shoulders.

"Neville, did you bring your wand with you?" I asked and when he gulped and shook his head, I grumbled and thought that I was fucked.

There's no way that Neville can navigate the castle in total darkness. He would either; cry and wake the paintings up or get himself caught by a wandering professor or any one of the prefects and head students in patrol. 

There's a huge chance he's gonna do both, to be honest.

But I don't want to make him come with us. I don't want to mess everything up in this timeline more than I should be by being here.

"Here," I shoved my wand towards Neville's chest. He immediately wrapped his trembling hands around my wand when I retracted away from him.

He looked confused and overwhelmed at the same time.

"Use that to get back to the common room safely. Return that to me by tomorrow so no one suspects anything." I told Neville. He shook his head again and pushed my wand back to me but I pushed his hand away.

"W-Why? They're all g-going to run back to the common room anyway s-so I'll just come with H-Harry and the others..." Neville stammered.

Well shit, how do I tell him that they aren't actually gonna go to the common room?

I bit my lip and leaned closer to his ear, mentally killing myself for even thinking of saying this to someone who's clueless about what's going to happen next.

"Trust me when I say that they won't." I whispered and leaned away from the confused boy.

He looked like he doesn't believe me but somewhere in his trust.

Eventually, Neville nodded but glanced his eyes somewhere else, specifically, behind my back.

I turned around and saw Harry turning his head around to face Mrs. Norris, who was already walking her way towards us with those creepy red eyes.

I cocked my eyebrow, wondering if Harry had heard our conversation.

If he did, then it wouldn't be too much of a trouble. He would only be skeptical of me to which, I say; when has anyone ever been un-skeptical of me?

"Go on, Nev." I turned my body around, facing the same direction where everyone's facing.

It took the boy a few seconds before running away and a small tint of light moving away from the direction where Neville went on the corner of my eye.

"Ah, this can't be good." I heard the platinum blonde haired boy say when Mrs. Norris is already standing right in front of him.

The cat looked up to the panicked Slytherin boy for a moment before she started meowing loudly as if she was calling for Filch.

"Shoot." I whisper yelled and was about to take a step back again and observe where the golden trio would be going until I felt a soft hand circling itself around my wrist and basically dragging me away from the trophy room.

In the distance, I could see Draco, who was taking a step towards me and slightly reached his arm out to reach for me until he looked towards his left and just blasted off to the opposite direction.

I look up and see the person who dragged me away and to my surprise, it was Hermione.

It makes sense since she was standing right in front of me. The left side of my front, to be exact since Harry stood on my right.

"W-Wait, where are we going?" I asked and tried to catch my breath. Damn, I've only been running for like, 10 seconds and I'm already tired as hell.

I could feel Hermione's hand slipping away from my wrist as we kept running and after a few seconds, I could no longer feel her grasp on my wrist and I can now run freely.

"I don't know! Anywhere as long as we're far away from that cat!" She replied hastily, turning into a corner when the two male Gryffindors turned into a corner as well.

I sighed and followed the golden trio while glancing down at my pajamas that I wore tonight.

Why, exactly, is an 11 year old Slytherin student, in their pajamas, with three Gryffindors in the middle of the night just to run away from a creepy red eyed cat?

I'm even wearing these cute green slippers to symbolize the house.

Whose slippers are these?

Alem's, of course.

And he sure as hell ain't gonna appreciate it if I wore his slippers in the middle of the night. I don't wanna use mine; they get itchy as hell.

"Wait," She slowed down and looked around in panic, "Where's Neville!?" She exclaims but her voice wasn't that loud that it woke the entire castle.

I huff and glanced over at Harry who turned his head around to look at me for a second but he immediately looked away when he realized I was already looking at him.

He couldn't be more obvious.

"He booked his way towards the common room before any of us ran." I said to calm the brown haired female. She looked relieved and picked her pace up.

"And you gave him your wand, didn't you?" Harry said as we all stopped in front of a door after running around for god knows how long.

I don't even know where the heck we are in the castle.

"He didn't bring his wand with him; how else is he going to navigate through the dark if he doesn't have one?" I painted and crossed my arms as soon as I caught my breath.

Hermione is already face palming while Ron opened the door with a creak.

"The castle isn't that dark during the night." Harry remarked, unconvinced by my answer. I rolled my eyes and followed the trio inside the corridor.

"It may not be but did you even think about how is he going to protect or conceal himself without a wand?" I said, starting to get annoyed by his attitude of trying to prove that I have a sinister motive.

"Be thankful that I didn't leave him with nothing and I gave him something he could use when he gets caught." As soon as we were all inside, I turned to look at Harry with slight anger and dropped both of my hands to my side.

"Honestly, Potter; can't you think before you start jumping into the conclusion that I have extremely evil motives or something?" I face palmed and as I said that to the raven haired Gryffindor, he looked away in slight shame.

I could see it from his green eyes underneath those large rounded lenses in his glasses.

Ron and Hermione looked at us, waiting for another word between the two of us and when none of us uttered a word, Hermione sighed and ran her fingers through her bushy brown hair to refresh herself.

"Alright, now if you two are finishing arguing with each other, we can now move on and think about how we get back to are our own common rooms." Hermione said, annoyance clearly visible on her tone of voice.

Not that I blame her for feeling annoyed.

I just looked away from Harry, observing the creepy third floor.

"Does that sound alright?" She glanced towards the two of us and the only response she could get from us was a silent nod but it was enough for her to understand what we meant.

"Uh... Does anyone feel like they shouldn't be here?" Ron piped in, changing the subject and setting our attention to him.

When Hermione looked around and observed the creepy floor, the same look of panic that she had when she was looking for Neville returned to her face.

"That's because we shouldn't be here in the first place!" She exclaimed while I raised both of my hands behind my head, making it act as a pillow.

Honestly, this is making me look like I don't care about the situation at hand right now.

"This is the third floor; it's forbidden!" Hermione added when she saw how un-affected we looked, especially me. But I still had the same expression even though she said that.

Ron glanced towards my carefree figure and was about to complain how I was acting based on his angry expression but they immediately softened as if he realized something.

"Oh right, you weren't on the Great Hall when Dumbledore said that the third floor was dangerous." The red haired boy mumbled and my eyes softened as well since I also remember passing out in the Great Hall right after the sorting.

I don't really know why I passed out?

Or more like, I don't remember why.

But I do remember Alem saying that my eyes turned a bit red just before I passed out. I wonder why though, maybe I should ask Erised sometime about that.

"Agh, this is no time to act so carefree!" Hermione's frustrated voice echoed in the creepy floor and I could've sworn I saw her narrowed eyes glance towards my way in an aggressive manner.

"Anyway, we should get out of here and get back to our common rooms before anyone finds us!" She turned her heels around to get out of the floor from the door we came in until the door opened first before Hermione could even put her hand on the door handle.

The bushy brown haired girl took a few steps back towards where we were, wary of the figure who entered the third floor. I lowered my hands and turned my attention to the slightly opened door.

From the side of the door, the familiar red eyes glimmered in the dimly lit corridor and we all realized who it was from the small figure.

Mrs. Norris looked at us with wide red eyes as if she was examining the misbehaving students who were out at midnight and taking in their features.

We all took a few steps back away from the bloody cat out of fear that Filch may be standing behind the door as well.

"It's Filch's cat!" Hermione exclaimed and that got me wondering how this cat managed to find us in the third floor.

More like, how did she even open the closed door? I know this cat is smart but damn, she must be on a different level of smart if she knows how to open closed doors.

"Run!" Harry piped in for the first time in the first few minutes that we were here.

After the raven haired boy said that, we all blasted off as we heard the blasted cat meow loudly to call for Filch.

As we ran through the corridor, fire would burst from the torches on the wall.

I don't know why they do that but damn, if these torches light up when someone enters the third floor, why did Filch just walk away when he entered the floor then?

Surely, the torches would still be lit after Harry and the others entered the room where Fluffy resided in.

Why am I thinking too much about this?

This is a world full of magic and other bullshit you can't do in reality.

You shouldn't question the laws of magic because it just makes you more confused the more you think about it even though you shouldn't even think about it in the first place.

"There's a door!" Ron said, pointing towards the distance.

As we reached the front of the door, Harry stepped in and grabbed the handle, trying to open the door but it wouldn't budge.

The frustrated Gryffindor slammed the lock to the door and looked at us. "It's locked!" He clicked his tongue.

"That's it! We're done for!" Ron stressed and looked into the distance, on the lookout for Filch and that bloody cat.

"Oh, move over!" Hermione almost shoved Harry away from the door and pulled her wand out, pointing it towards the locked door.

"Alohomora!" She casts and the lock on the door was immediately pulled up.

"Get in!" Hermione said and basically shoved the three of us inside the room.

Ron was the one who had to close the door and keep it shut, pressing his ear at the door to hear if Filch or anyone is coming.

"Alohomora?" Ron asked, eyeing the brown haired female as if doubting that a spell like that actually exists.

"Standard Book of Spells, chapter seven." I said before Hermione could, reassuring the red haired boy of any doubts that he might have about the spell. The two Gryffindors looked at me with slight surprise.

Hermione gave me a small smile, making it seem like she acknowledges my knowledge for spells. I returned the smile back with a little bit of hesitance.

I mean, who wouldn't hesitate smiling back at Hermione when she was just pissed and clearly wanted to throw you off the edge of a cliff a few minutes ago?

"He's gone." Ron gave off a sigh of relief and leaned away from the wooden door.

You don't really need to ask him to know that he's talking about Filch.

Ron and Hermione looked very relieved at the confirmation that the man is gone from the third floor and I just turned to look at Harry, who just froze right on his spot at the realization that we entered the wrong room.

"Probably thinks that this door is locked." Hermione said as the two walked and stopped beside Harry's side, who hasn't moved an inch and kept his eyes on the huge three headed dog in front of us.

"It was locked." The raven haired boy said which made the other two look at Harry and then at the direction where he was looking at.

"And for a good reason, too." He added as we all stood in our spot, petrified and scared.

To be honest, I am a little bit concerned and overwhelmed at how huge Fluffy is. One wrong move and the dog could chomp my head off.

Fluffy sniffed, picking up our unfamiliar scent and opened his eyes to see who could've entered the room and disturb him in his happy sleep.

Once he realized that it wasn't anyone who he recognized, like Hagrid, Fluffy growled and his eyes narrowed in anger at the sight of us, intruders.

"Shit." I murmured, hoping that the three hadn't heard me swear. I can't tell if Fluffy is just huge because of my small eleven year old body or if he is actually huge than how I expected him to be. 

Since I was the closest to the door, I placed my hand on the handle of the door without Fluffy noticing and I am inches away from letting the door fly open if it wasn't for the three standing there as if they were on death row and waiting for the three headed dog to eat them all.

Like, jesus, I commend Gryffindors for being brave and for having full of determination but if a large ass dog is awake and is ready to eat you, don't just stand there and wait for it to attack, immediately run as soon as you see it.

"What are you three standing around there for!?" I exclaimed and flung the door open, making a somewhat loud noise and snapping the three from their paralyzed state.

They screamed and immediately dashed out of the room as Fluffy lunged his heads towards us as an attempt to bite any of us.

But as they were out of the room, I immediately shut the door close and locked it tightly.

I could still hear Fluffy barking aggressively at the other side of the room and it looks like it's going to be noisy in the third floor for a while.

All of us panted and tried to recollect our composure from that somewhat traumatic experience.

To be fair, I didn't really feel traumatized after seeing Fluffy. I was just stressed due to those three not running immediately after seeing a huge dog.

Oh wait, I forgot this world was only following what happens in the series so it's not entirely their fault for acting like that.

"Let's just get out of here." I clicked my tongue and began to walk away from the door, running my slightly sweaty fingers through my hair while thinking about the things that just happened in that room and in this night.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

"What do they think they're doing; keeping a thing like that locked up in our school!" Ron exclaimed in a hush, careful not to wake any paintings up as the four of them walked their way towards their respective common rooms.

(Y/N) rolled their eyes as they placed their hands behind their back.

"Based from what you said, you don't really use your eyes, do you?" The only Slytherin in their group remarked but kept their bored eyes locked away from them.

"Yes, didn't you see what it was standing on?" Hermione asked as the four turned into a corner.

The red haired boy scoffed and found the words of the two unbelievable as if they were a completely different creature.

"I wasn't looking at its feet! I was a bit preoccupied with its heads!" He slightly growled at them, "or maybe you two didn't notice; there were three!" Ron put up three fingers for the two to see, emphasizing the number of heads Fluffy has.

The group stopped walking as they reached the Gryffindor common room after Ron's reply as (Y/N) gently swatted Ron's hand away from their face.

"Yes, Weasley. I noticed that the dog has three heads so keep your hand away from my face, thank you." They said, crossing their arms and glaring at the red haired boy.

"It was standing on a trap door." Hermione sighed when she noticed that this could lead to another argument that (Y/N) and either of the boys get into.

"Which means it wasn't there by accident." She added as the group turned their heads to look at the brown haired female.

"In other words, it's guarding something." The Slytherin supports Hermione, dropping their arms to their side to make it seem like this is a serious subject.

"If you ask me, it must be pretty important that they had to keep a three headed dog to guard it." They added and shrugged as they give their thoughts about Fluffy.

Hermione nodded, agreeing with the (H/C) haired Slytherin.

Harry, however, looked confused at what they said but not saying that he doesn't believe them or anything.

"Guarding something?" Harry asked, glancing at (Y/N) and waiting for their reply.

"They're right." Hermione said, making the raven haired boy turn to look at her.

"Now, if you two don't mind, I'm going to bed before either of you come up with another clever idea to get us killed," Hermione said as (Y/N) smiled since one of their favorite lines is now being spoken.

"Or worse, expelled." The brown haired girl emphasized the word 'expelled', glaring at the two Gryffindor boys in front of her who didn't know what to say after she just said that.

"Good night to you, (Y/N)." Hermione turned to look at (Y/N) with a smile, who was already starting to doze off.

They looked surprised at Hermione's words but returned her smile anyway.

"Oh... Good night, Hermione." They replied as Hermione gave Harry and Ron one last glare before entering the common room and leaving her house mates behind.

"She needs to sort out her priorities." Ron shook his head, groaning.

He turned to look at (Y/N), who was still standing there as if they were waiting for the two to enter the common room.

"Aren't you going back to your common room?" Ron asked, glancing them up and down.

(Y/N) sighed and scratched their head, slightly offended at what the red haired boy just asked.

"Geez, you really want me gone, don't you?" They asked in a joking manner.

A flicker of regret flashed in Ron's eyes and (Y/N) had seen it as clear as the day even though their surrounding was dim.

"I'm kidding, Weasley." They laughed and the red haired boy's features softened but still felt annoyed that they were only teasing him.

"But I'm gonna head back anyway so, good night to you two." (Y/N) smiled, waving their hand at the Gryffindors and turned around to walk away from them.

"Can you find your way back through the dark?" Harry stopped (Y/N), taking a small step forward.

The Slytherin turned around, their smile widening in every second and this really made Harry uncomfortable.

"Oh, are you worried about me, Potter?" They teased as Harry blushed slightly however the small color on his cheeks immediately disappeared as (Y/N)'s smile became a normal one, making them look somewhat trustworthy.

"Don't worry, I'm not stupid to get myself caught on my way back to the common room." They reassured Harry, turning around once more with their back facing the two Gryffindors.

"And wasn't it you who said that the castle isn't that dark during the night?" (Y/N) tilted their head towards Harry, smirking.

The raven haired boy blinked in surprise at their words as (Y/N) began to walk away from them.

The two were silent for a moment until Ron nudged Harry's forearm, beckoning for him to enter the common room.

"They're really strange, aren't they?" Ron asked as they went their way towards their dorm.

Harry looked down, his mind drifting somewhere else but in the end, it always makes him think of that strange (H/C) haired Slytherin that he couldn't figure out.

"Yeah." Because of his thoughts, this was all he could reply to his red haired friend.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

Okay, I admit that I don't have a particularly good eyesight and heck, it's not like I have a night vision so I can navigate myself through dark places but somehow, I still managed to get myself to the Slytherin common room and avoid everyone else who's awake in this castle right now.

I may have to thank my luck for that.

As a plus, the fat lady in the painting is nowhere to be found tonight so I can just go back in without any trouble of getting caught.

I mean, the other person in this house who caught me was Draco and I still have to ask him a bunch of questions.

Like, why the fuck did he lie to me.

I was on my way to my room as I tiptoed my way there and to my surprise, the platinum blonde haired boy was waiting for me by the door with his back on the wall and his arms crossed.

"You're still awake?" I asked, clearly surprised that he could stay up for that long. Draco turned his attention towards mine as he sighed and began to walk towards me.

What's his problem?

"Let's have a quick chat." He said, passing through me and making his way downstairs.

I wasn't in the mood to answer his questions because I thought he'd just move on the next day and forget about it.

"Draco, the thing is; I'm really tired so I think we should call it-"

"If you can stay up late for those fools, then you can also stay up late for me." He interrupted as he stopped walking down.

"Besides, I won't take as long." Draco added and began walking downstairs again.

I groaned slightly and I can already feel my eyes drooping.

I mean I can stay up late when I'm in my original age but I'm eleven years old and the thing I'll forever regret is getting eye bags since it ruins my face and makes me look like a full fledged zombie.

I'm not gonna make it happen when I have the chance to reverse it.

So as I have no choice, I walked downstairs and found the dip shit sitting on the sofa as the fireplace was warmly lit.

It wasn't a big fire or anything but it just felt right and it looks like it could disappear in about five minutes or so.

"Sit down." He said, patting the empty spot beside him. Why he wants me to sit next to him for a simple talk, I have no idea.

But I followed anyway and sat next to him, resting my back on the sofa and feeling satisfaction course through my veins as I did so.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" I asked as I finally made myself comfortable.

Draco leaned close to me as I turned to look at him and it really caught me off guard.

"Woah, what the-"

"You're quite the mystery, aren't you, Rosewood?" He said, gazing into my eyes and I felt uncomfortable at how he was staring at me.

I was about to scoot away from him but it seems that he knew I was going to do that since I felt an arm circle around my waist.

"Draco, what are you doing?" I asked, feeling a slight twinge of fear and panic in my mind.

He didn't seem to notice it though since he didn't do anything about it.

"You always act on impulse and even though everything looks new to you, you always know what to do next." Draco said but I wasn't paying attention, all I wanted to do was get away from him.

"No, it's more like," He closed his eyes. "You already know what's going to happen." He opened them again and based from what he said, he seems like he's already suspicious about my behavior.

But fuck, I don't care about that.

This is this already giving me a bunch of big red flags and I'm already panicking.

"Tell me, (Y/N)," He leaned even closer that our noses are touching and I could feel his breath hitting my lips.

"What is it that makes you so special and unpredictable?" Draco dropped his head at the crook of my neck and I am already paralyzed out of fear.

I hate any form of close human contact.

"I-I don't have any idea what you're talking about." I gulped, as small tears are appearing in the corner of my eyes.

"You can't even say?" He asked as he leaned away from me. At first, I felt genuine relief that he's finally retracting away from me but the fear immediately came back as he placed his finger under my chin, making me look up at him with slightly tear filled eyes.

How the hell does this boy not know that I am already scared of what he's doing. Christ.

When I finally realized that he's leaning closer to my lips, my eyes widened as I suddenly had the imagery of those dirty old men leaning closer towards me as they licked their lips and looked at me with both lust and greed.

"Get the hell away from me!" I pushed the platinum blonde haired boy away from me, almost shoving him off the sofa.

I panted heavily as I heard a faint groan in front of me, indicating that he's somehow hurt from the force of my push.

But I realized what I have done and snapped out of it. I stood up from the sofa, took a few steps back before running to the room, not even looking back as Draco was calling for my name.

I hastily yet silently opened and closed the door, jumping to my bed and drawing the curtains close around my four poster bed.

I messed up.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

Draco sat there, keeping his eyes up on the ceiling while wondering what has gotten into him to do such things. He didn't mean it but he couldn't help but... like it.

It's his guilty pleasure, to say the least.

After all, (Y/N) is indeed a smart, unpredictable witch.

He didn't know that it was only a stack of pillows lined up together with a blanket draped over it to make it look like it's actually them sleeping.

While it is indeed foolish and a somewhat stupid technique, he couldn't help but adore it.

Their actions tell him everything he needs to know too; it feels like they know what's going to happen.

A true clairvoyant, he thought but found the title that's been bestowed upon the (H/C) haired Slytherin idiotic.

It just doesn't roll off the tongue that well, does it?

He thought that (Y/N) pushing him away due to his actions was understandable since it is creepy but it was only now that he noticed their fear filled eyes as they pushed him away.

Why was fear present in their eyes?

He expected anger and sure, it was also there but he could see the fear on their eyes more.

He couldn't really understand it but he does understand that there are some things that (Y/N) is genuinely afraid of.

And of course, it is the knight's duty to protect the princess from any harm, no matter what.

**»»————- ♡ ————-««**

**(A/N: Hello! Please enjoy this** **_9000_ ** **words worth of chapter.**

**I literally had to finish this in one day since y'all were waiting patiently for, like, 4 months for a new chapter and it's already December.**

**I hope this makes up for all the waiting I've caused!**

**I know this took way too long to upload and I'm sorry because I've been procrastinating.**

**Anyways, stay lovely as ever, everyone!** **Consider this as my early Christmas gift to you!)**


	10. I - IX:「The Memory Lane」

**❝Why are you pushing me away?**   
**I just want to give you the love that you deserve.❞**

**»»————- ♡ ————-««**

With a small flash of green light entering my sight, I gasped, letting air enter my lungs due to the lack of oxygen I got.

I seriously thought I was going to die.

I coughed for a little bit before my breathing patterns returned to normal.

I grunted, holding my head as I felt a slight throbbing headache.

"Mnh..." I murmured while looking around my unfamiliar surroundings.

I blinked once and then twice when I realized that I wasn't in my room.

Where the hell am I?

Blinking once more, I felt a weird, sticky sensation trickling through my other hand and it was then I realized that my other arm was carrying something heavy.

Confused, I looked down and my eyes widened in both disbelief and fear as I saw that a body was laying on my lap.

It wasn't just some other body, too.

_It was Alem's body._

"Aah!" I screamed, pulling my other arm away underneath his body and was obliged to scoot away from him but I didn't.

I was too paralyzed to even move any part of my body.

"W-Wha..." I didn't even have the energy to say anything because I was too shocked to comprehend that this is, indeed, my brother's dead body.

His eyes that had the same color as mine was half lidded and life has already been lost in those orbs of his.

His face was dirty and had small bruises in them. His slightly parted lips had blood trickling out of it and down to his chin.

Because of this, I looked at his body and surely enough, his clothes were disheveled.

He wasn't wearing the school uniform and he was wearing clothes that I didn't even know he had.

His skin is almost full of scars and injuries, almost as if he was being tortured by death to someone.

It took me a while to be consumed by sorrow and grief as tears endlessly flooded out of my eyes. 

I scooted right back at Alem's side and lifted his body back to my lap, not caring if my clothes were becoming dirty because of his blood.

After all, our blood is one and the same.

"Alem!" I screamed for his name, parting his locks away from his face and holding his right cheek with my hand.

When I saw that he wasn't being responsive, I shook my head and buried my face into the crook of his neck, lifting his body closer to my face as I sobbed loudly and shouted in frustration.

Why am I so full of grief? Why do I feel so guilty?

Why do I feel... so angry and frustrated?

"Tsk, tsk." I shot my head up as I heard someone clicking their tongue in a playful way.

My vision was already blurry from all of the tears I've shed for my brother for the last few minutes but I know that's not enough for me to not see the appearance of the person who's walking right towards me.

And yet that's what's happening right now; the figure that's walking right in front of me is nothing more than a black, misty creature with bright white eyes.

They seemed like they were a ghost or some messed up dementor with intelligence yet my gut told me that it's not something like that.

"See, (Y/N)," The figure spoke with a mocking tone. My anger elevated and I wanted them to die a horrible painful death.

"That's what happens when someone gets in my way." They said and I narrowed my eyes even more, I wanted to shout at this asshole but I couldn't.

Something in me tells me that I can't say anything or shouldn't even say anything at this point.

"Now, don't look at me that way." The sad tone of the figure made me feel like I was being played at and I hated it.

It showed that they weren't taking me seriously.

"That was merely the consequence that I had to give to your brother for trying to take me away from you!" They chuckled, raising their arms up like some kind of a messed up dictator.

I grit my teeth and stood up, dashing towards the figure with my fists balled and arms raised.

"You fucking bastard!" I shouted and attempted to throw a punch right at their face except they caught my fist with their hand easily.

Damn it, am I really that weak when it comes to physical strength?

"That's not very nice, you know?" They pouted, pulling me towards them and keeping me close to their disgusting... misty dementor-like body, their arms wrapped around my waist as if they didn't want to let me go.

I struggled, not wanting to be closer to this psychopath that killed my brother.

I slapped their chest so they can let me go but they wouldn't even budge or show a reaction.

"Hey, (Y/N)," They said, not paying attention to any of my futile attempts of escaping his grasp.

"Those who interfere with our happy ending," I felt fingers running through my hair slowly as if they were admiring my hair and taking their sweet time with it.

I shut my eyes tightly, crying once more but this time, out of hopelessness.

"One by one, let's make a toy out of them."

»»————- ♡ ————-««

I gasped once more, jolting out of my bed and reaching out into the distance with

wide teary eyes. My parted lips quivered in fear and it took me a while to process my actions.

My breathing wasn't normal, it's almost like I was hyperventilating.

My vision was starting to get blurry but it wasn't until I felt another hand placing itself on top of my other hand that I started to calm down and let myself return to my normal breathing patterns.

Casting my eyes towards the person that laid their hands on mine, my relief grew and my tears almost started coming back but I held them back in with a gulp.

"(Y/N), are you alright?" Alem asked with a slight tilt on the side and a concerned expression written all over his face.

My lips pursed and with no hesitation, I lunged myself towards my brother and pulled him closer to me, bringing him in for a tight hug.

"W-Woah!" He exclaimed, surprised by my sudden action.

"What's gotten into you all of a-" I began to cry and let the tears fall out of my eyes.

Even though I am technically not that close to Alem since I just met him as I started my journey in this world, it still feels like I've been with him since I was born and I feel the genuine need to protect him from anything and I really love him so much as my sibling.

Alem stopped and didn't say anything else. Instead, he brought his hand up to my back and started to rub it to comfort me.

I continued crying for a while until I pulled away from him and wiped my tears from my eyes while casting them downwards since I wasn't ready to face Alem just yet.

"What did you dream about?" He asked and my shoulders twitched, suddenly remembering Alem's dead body laying on my lap with his half-lidded lifeless eyes stared back at mine.

I looked away to the side, still casting my eyes downwards.

"It's... just a nightmare; no big deal, really." I said, my voice almost a murmur.

But I knew that Alem heard it anyway since he didn't ask me to repeat it for him.

"It's about me, isn't it?" He asked and that question was enough to make me freeze in my spot.

Judging from my silence, Alem sighed and assumed that it is about him.

"How did you-"

"You looked away from me when I asked you what you dreamed about." My perceptive brother stated with a slight smile.

He knows when I'm lying now, huh. I feel like I can never keep a secret from this guy.

"Judging from your reaction, it's not that great, is it?" He asked, adjusting himself on the edge of the bed where he sat ever since I woke up.

I nodded, biting my lip since I don't want to remember that dream ever again.

Even though it's just a dream, I still have super bad vibes from it and I just feel so hopeless now.

It doesn't make me feel relieved that it's all just a dream but at least Alem's alive.

"...you died."

Silence.

"Oh." was all that Alem could reply. He didn't know what to say and I don't blame him.

It's not everyday to hear someone say that they dreamed about you dying, is it?

My brother looked away for a moment but then looked back at me with a smirk as if there was nothing to worry about.

"You care about me so much that you cried, huh?" Alem teased while he wiggled his eyebrows.

I rolled my eyes and sniffled, wiping any tears that hadn't gone away yet from my puffy eyes.

I couldn't help but smile at his poor attempts at making me laugh because I am somewhat annoyed by him now.

"Oh shut up, Alem." I chuckled, looking away from him and kicking my blanket away from my body.

Just as I was about to crawl out of my messy bed, I felt myself being pulled towards Alem with his hand pressed on the back of my head and his other pressed at my back.

I was slightly startled because I didn't expect him to hug me but his warmth was enough for me to hug him back.

"Don't worry." He said and gently pushed me away from him, sending his stupid goofy grin right at me.

"I'm not going to die any time soon." Alem made a thumbs up as he decreased his grin into a small smirk.

I stare at him for a moment and lifted my hand up to his forehead.

Alem's eyes brightened until I flicked his forehead with my fingers.

He winced and leaned away in pain as he placed his hands on his forehead.

"Ow! What in the bloody hell was that for!?" Alem exclaimed, rubbing his forehead and pouting angrily.

"Stop trying to act cool; it doesn't suit you." I crawl away from my bed and walked towards my Slytherin robe which was hung neatly next to my four poster.

"Excuse me, at least I'm cooler than you." He stuck his tongue out and grabbed my pillows and my blanket before setting them aside to his bed and straightening out my bedsheets.

Meanwhile, I was digging through my robes' pockets until I heard a gentle jingle in the right pocket.

I grabbed the keys and walked towards my locked chest that was right in front of my bed.

"When did you even get cool, Alem?" I snorted, inserting the key in the lock's keyhole and twisting it.

With a click, the lock was finally opened and I pulled the chest open before grabbing my towel and my toothbrush from the left side of the chest where I usually keep my hygiene stuff.

"Since I got an admirer." Alem said as he grabbed my blanket from his bed and neatly folding it into a square before plopping it into my bed.

He also grabbed my pillows and arranged them gently in a line.

"You're seriously proud about getting that girl to like you?" I cringed, closing the chest and then locking it when I realized that I already have everything I need.

I threw the key to the bed as if it was nothing before walking towards the door to our bathroom and making sure that I didn't forget anything.

"At least I have one. You don't." Alem grabbed his Slytherin robe from the wall and slipped his arms inside the sleeves and straightening it out to make sure it looks presentable enough.

"Oh trust me, Alem. It's better if you don't." I smile before entering the bathroom and sighing, ready to start another day at this fake dream world that that short kid transported me into.

Even though I came here to have fun, to have a break from reality and to have a chance to experience love, even though it's temporary and only in my head, why does it feel like I have a greater purpose here now?

That dream surely is hijacking my mind. I should stop thinking about it.

After all, that's just what it is;

A mere dream that you can easily forget for the rest of the day.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

"Eye of rabbit, harp string hum," Seamus Finnigan, a Gryffindor who was known to be quite... explosive with spells, waved his wand in front of a chalice with a book placed in front of him.

"Turn this water into rum!" He said with a final wand wave.

He slightly rose up from his seat and leaned closer towards the chalice, looking to see if his spell had worked.

Seamus shook his head and leaned away, taking a proper seat again before continuing to cast his spell and waving his wand around.

"Eye of rabbit, harp string hum," He continued as Harry was looking at him from slightly far across the Gryffindor table with an opened book also placed in front of the raven haired boy.

"What's Seamus trying to do with that glass of water?" Harry asked softly, leaning closer to his friend, Ron, who was sitting right beside him and was also studying.

The red haired boy glanced over at who Harry was referring to but didn't look away when he saw that it was Seamus.

"Trying to turn water into rum." Ron blankly replied to Harry's question before his eyes slightly lit up.

"Actually, he managed to turn it into a weak tea yesterday," The red haired boy's expression dropped again with a slight visibility of dread on his face.

"Before-"

A loud explosion occurred within the Gryffindor table, specifically, on where Seamus sat.

Hermione looked shocked and maybe most of the Gryffindors were, to be honest.

Smoke erupted from the chalice, Seamus' wand fizzed slightly with small miniature sparks were floating before they disappeared, the face of the Gryffindor boy who caused the explosion was filled with black soot and along with the face of shock and disbelief.

It wasn't long until the table was filled with laughter because of Seamus' mistake.

Hermione waved her hands around her face to ward off any foul smelling smoke that might get into her nose.

(Y/N) chuckled for a moment with their head twisted towards the still laughing Gryffindor table before turning their attention back to Alem, who is sitting beside them.

"He must be skilled at exploding things unintentionally, huh?" They chuckled and took a bite out of their breakfast which consisted of bacon and hotdogs.

Alem only hummed back as a response, flipping another page from his Transfiguration book that he borrowed from the library.

The younger Rosewood twin glanced at (Y/N)'s plate for a moment before they let their book down, slightly shocked.

"That's your third plate!" Alem exclaimed, his mouth opened.

(Y/N) turned to look at him with the most confused face they could muster as if his question was the most complicated thing ever to exist in the universe.

"...I'm hungry." They said in an as-a-matter-of-fact tone before taking another bite from their food.

Alem sighed and shook his head while rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Why do I have a hardheaded pig as an older sister/brother?" He murmured, contemplating his existence for being in the a Rosewood family until distant hoots of owls can be heard.

The Rosewood twins diverted their attention away from their activities and looked up to the large circular windows that were positioned near the enchanted ceiling.

Owls eventually came, flying inside the Great Hall with either letters or wrapped up packages that were sent to their respective owners.

Alem leaned down with his book gently protected underneath his arms due to the fear of being scratched by one of those owls, especially since there's bound to be a naughty, undisciplined one out of all those packs of owls flying around the hall.

"Oh right, I forgot that owls existed in this universe." (Y/N) thought, cutting a small piece of egg and scooping it up with their spoon.

"Come to think of it, do I even have a owl?" They questioned themselves and raising their spoon up to their mouth until an owl had landed, surprisingly, between the Rosewood twins' space on their part of the Slytherin table.

"Holy shi-!" (Y/N) gasped loudly, dropping their spoon to their plate with a slightly loud clang.

Alem only blinked and leaned his face closer to the grey colored owl who carried two neatly folded letters on its beak.

It wasn't long until the (H/C) haired boy had recognized who the owl was and his eyes were filled with glee.

"Walter?" Alem asked the owl who turned its attention to the younger Rosewood twin.

The owl named Walter hooted, answering Alem to confirm his suspicions.

Alem smiled happily and turned to look at (Y/N), who was still looking at the two back and forth.

"It's our family owl." He said, explaining to the confused older twin.

(Y/N)'s confusion disappeared and instead, it was filled with wonder and slight traces of happiness that was visible on their bright features.

"We have a family owl?" They asked, leaning closer to Walter as well but as they got closer, Walter immediately jumped away from the Slytherin and was almost sending death glares to (Y/N), mistrust oozing from the owl's aura.

(Y/N) immediately leaned away since they thought that Walter might try to attack them but with their perception, they assumed that Walter might've realized something strange about them.

"Woah, Walter. Calm down, boy." Alem placed his hand on Walter's right wing, caressing it gently to calm him down.

He looked up to his older sibling, looking quite skeptical since Walter hadn't really done something like that before to (Y/N), especially since it's their family owl.

"D-Does he not like me?" (Y/N) gulped, still looking at their supposed family owl. Walter held his look and it seemed like he was hissing.

The older sibling's eyes squinted in concern, what was wrong with him?

"It's our family owl, (Y/N); why would he not like you?" Alem scoffed, retracting his hand away from Walter's wing and using it to rest his head on the palm of his hand.

"He's always been comfortable with all of us; he never jumped away from you or from anyone in our family." He glanced over at the concerned (Y/N), his eyes that bore the same color as them glinting in skepticism.

 _"This probably isn't just some any old memory loss."_ Alem tore his eyes away from (Y/N) when he saw that they were turning their attention towards him.

He returned his attention back to Walter, who turned his beak up from the (H/C) haired girl/boy.

 _"There's something very strange about them..."_ He thought while (Y/N) tore off a piece of their bacon and offered it to Walter as a sign of their friendship but Walter only sniffed the bacon piece and huffed angrily, huddling closer to Alem for comfort.

_"But at the same time, it feels like it's not that strange at all."_

(Y/N) pouted and threw the bacon piece inside their mouth, not letting it go to waste.

Alem closed his eyes and his glinting skeptical look disappeared as he looked away and straightened himself in his seat.

"Weird." (Y/N) commented, not taking any chances of befriending Walter anymore.

Alem gently took the two letters away from the owl's beak before patting his head slowly.

Walter cooed and buried his head deeper in Alem's hand, enjoying the younger Rosewood twin's warmth.

(Y/N) pouted and grumpily stabbed the last strip of bacon on their plate, bringing it into their mouth and chewing it while looking away in slight envy.

They wanted owls to be close to them too, especially if it's a family one.

"Be safe, Walter." Alem smiled and beckoned for Walter to fly away.

As the grey owl flew away, (Y/N) was still pouting but it immediately faded as they glanced over at the two letters held in their brother's hand.

"Who's it for?" They asked, leaning closer to take a closer look at the letter, almost squishing their cheeks with Alem's.

The younger Rosewood groaned and pushed his older sibling away to create some space for them before glancing over at the two letters to see who it's addressed to.

"It's yours." He sighed and handed the two letters to (Y/N), who was just about to get a serve of sliced cake on the table.

Alem groaned and pulled (Y/N)'s plate away from them.

The older twin gasped and tried to get their plate back but Alem placed his hand on their face, preventing them from taking it away from him.

"Stop eating so much! You're gonna get fat!" He exclaimed, pushing his older sibling away from him.

Even so, (Y/N) struggled and reached out for their plate, trying to get it within their reach.

Alem, knowing how tall they were than him, pulled the plate farther away from him while (Y/N) whined and started to climb over him.

"I'm not! Besides, what I eat is none of your business!" The (H/C) haired girl/boy retaliated and before the two of them will fall down to the ground due to (Y/N) climbing over Alem's body just to reach their plate, a certain platinum blonde haired boy coughed to get the Twins' attention.

"Can you two stop it?" Draco grumbled while eyeing the twins, Alem specifically, as he felt that his morning was immediately ruined by the loud noises and the completely uncomfortable scene that the two were making.

It wasn't... Slytherin-like to say the least but then again, when did the twins ever act as if they're really from this house?

This is what Draco thought at the moment as (Y/N) straightened up and was still shooting glares at their younger brother with their arms crossed to further make the annoyance in their expression more visible.

Alem rolled his eyes at his other twin's childish reaction and simply placed their plate beside his.

"You're acting very immature, Rosewood." Draco glanced at (Y/N), implying that he meant them.

The older twin only gave Draco a stare before glancing back at their brother, giving their attention to him without sparing another glance at the platinum blonde haired boy.

 _"D-Did they just ignore me?"_ The Malfoy heir seemed shocked, thinking if what he did last night is the reason why. He didn't meant to do that; his urges wanted to.

Draco, who misunderstood (Y/N) actions, leaned closer with a small nervous smile with the hopes that (Y/N) might've not heard him.

"You're not really being-"

_**"Sorry, can you stop talking to me?"** _

Those cold, harsh words from (Y/N) were enough to make Draco's hope snap.

Alem glanced over at the two Slytherins for a moment before brushing it off since he had no business with Draco whatsoever.

I mean, he even thinks that distancing (Y/N) and Draco would be best anyway so he doesn't care.

 _"Huh?"_ Draco thought, leaning away and looking down at his plate.

He's speechless; he doesn't know how to respond to those words that came out of (Y/N)'s mouth.

He knows that he's done something wrong and he knows that it's from last night but this couldn't just make them push him away like that with those harsh words.

 _"Did I... do something wrong to you, (Y/N)?"_ The platinum blonde haired boy's pupils dilated and they were shaking as he stared down at this half empty plate and his eyes covered by his bangs.

 _"No,"_ Draco smiled, another convincing thought coming to invade his mind.

 _"They're just sick. They don't actually mean any of that."_ His smile widened, his dark convincing thought growing bigger just to make himself feel better.

_"Or maybe... someone had manipulated them..."_

_"That makes sense..."_ Draco silently laughed but his strange behavior hadn't caught any attention, even his seat mates.

This discreet behavior is rapidly growing inside his own mind that he's even starting to think of... something.

**_"T̡̩̗͓͇̥̉̈̇͌̅̄̅͊̕͢ͅh̢̝̲̯̼̟̰͍̍͐̅̊̋̑͒͘ȩ̧̡̘̯͇̺̫̳̱͋̾̓̍̓̍͌̀̚y̶̡̧̫̖̤̤̻̳̙̍͂͌̏͒͝'̸͍̯̝̫͚̙̒̿̓́͌̃̕͟͟͝ͅl͚̥͚͙̟̩̒̋̑͆̽̑͆̈̚͜l̨̨̥̠̙̍͛̋͊͟͞ p̢̠̻͚̹̳̑̌́̋a̵͕̭̜̼̩͈̲̅̀͆̈́͊ỹ͉̺͓̟̼̠̆̆͒̂̚̕͠"_ **   
**_"T̡̩̗͓͇̥̉̈̇͌̅̄̅͊̕͢ͅh̢̝̲̯̼̟̰͍̍͐̅̊̋̑͒͘ȩ̧̡̘̯͇̺̫̳̱͋̾̓̍̓̍͌̀̚y̶̡̧̫̖̤̤̻̳̙̍͂͌̏͒͝'̸͍̯̝̫͚̙̒̿̓́͌̃̕͟͟͝ͅl͚̥͚͙̟̩̒̋̑͆̽̑͆̈̚͜l̨̨̥̠̙̍͛̋͊͟͞ p̢̠̻͚̹̳̑̌́̋a̵͕̭̜̼̩͈̲̅̀͆̈́͊ỹ͉̺͓̟̼̠̆̆͒̂̚̕͠"_ **   
**_"T̡̩̗͓͇̥̉̈̇͌̅̄̅͊̕͢ͅh̢̝̲̯̼̟̰͍̍͐̅̊̋̑͒͘ȩ̧̡̘̯͇̺̫̳̱͋̾̓̍̓̍͌̀̚y̶̡̧̫̖̤̤̻̳̙̍͂͌̏͒͝'̸͍̯̝̫͚̙̒̿̓́͌̃̕͟͟͝ͅl͚̥͚͙̟̩̒̋̑͆̽̑͆̈̚͜l̨̨̥̠̙̍͛̋͊͟͞ p̢̠̻͚̹̳̑̌́̋a̵͕̭̜̼̩͈̲̅̀͆̈́͊ỹ͉̺͓̟̼̠̆̆͒̂̚̕͠"_ **   
**_"T̡̩̗͓͇̥̉̈̇͌̅̄̅͊̕͢ͅh̢̝̲̯̼̟̰͍̍͐̅̊̋̑͒͘ȩ̧̡̘̯͇̺̫̳̱͋̾̓̍̓̍͌̀̚y̶̡̧̫̖̤̤̻̳̙̍͂͌̏͒͝'̸͍̯̝̫͚̙̒̿̓́͌̃̕͟͟͝ͅl͚̥͚͙̟̩̒̋̑͆̽̑͆̈̚͜l̨̨̥̠̙̍͛̋͊͟͞ p̢̠̻͚̹̳̑̌́̋a̵͕̭̜̼̩͈̲̅̀͆̈́͊ỹ͉̺͓̟̼̠̆̆͒̂̚̕͠"_ **   
**_"T̡̩̗͓͇̥̉̈̇͌̅̄̅͊̕͢ͅh̢̝̲̯̼̟̰͍̍͐̅̊̋̑͒͘ȩ̧̡̘̯͇̺̫̳̱͋̾̓̍̓̍͌̀̚y̶̡̧̫̖̤̤̻̳̙̍͂͌̏͒͝'̸͍̯̝̫͚̙̒̿̓́͌̃̕͟͟͝ͅl͚̥͚͙̟̩̒̋̑͆̽̑͆̈̚͜l̨̨̥̠̙̍͛̋͊͟͞ p̢̠̻͚̹̳̑̌́̋a̵͕̭̜̼̩͈̲̅̀͆̈́͊ỹ͉̺͓̟̼̠̆̆͒̂̚̕͠"_ **

A certain sound of plates clattering snapped him back to reality.

He looked around and he just realized that he's still in the Great Hall with a bunch of students eating breakfast.

It might be inappropriate for him to snap right now.

"So annoying..." One Slytherin student, who seemed like a third year at most, grumbled.

He sat two seats away from Alem, silently glaring at the Rosewood twins with such contempt that he could be armed with his wand in any second just to quiet them down.

Alem only huffed but didn't say anything about what the student had said.

(Y/N) grumbled and was about to bark at the student but judging from Alem's side glance that held a warning look, they refrained themselves barely.

"He acts more of an older twin than me sometimes." (Y/N) pouted and crossed their arms, looking away from both their brother and Draco.

It wasn't until Alem placed the two letters that was addressed to (Y/N) in front of them.

They've completely forgotten about the letter and took the letters in their hands, examining it before opening it.

_**(Y/N)** _ _**Rosewood** _   
_Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

The penmanship is neat, they thought to themselves.

As they opened the seal, the (H/C) haired girl/boy unfolded the letter and began to read the neatly handwritten content that was addressed to them.

_To my dearest (Y/N),_

_Hello, sweetheart! How are you doing in school with your brother? Was it everything that you two had expected? Are you making any new friends? I hope so since the two of you have been raving about wanting to go to Hogwarts ever since your letters came!_

_Putting that aside, I wondered why you haven't written to me at the first day. Of course, I understand that you must be tired fromthe long ride but I was a little bit saddened since you promised me that you would write to me at the first day and tell me how things went._

_Well, you don't have an owl so it must be quite difficult yet but knowing your brother, he wouldn't mind if you had borrowed his owl to send a letter to me. Don't worry though because you would be able to get your own owl at your fourth year. That was our agreement, wasn't it?_

_I'd taken it upon myself to write to you a letter from work using Walter since we managed to bring him along with us in our three day trip to Edinburgh, trying to sort things out with a magical family there that had some trouble with a muggle._

_By the way, I'd heard from Malfoy, before we left London, you two had been sorted to Slytherin. I don't have any problems with that so rest assured; I love you two just the way you are, even if you're sorted in Slytherin._

_Though, your father and I had a wager that if you had been sorted in Hufflepuff and Alem had been sorted in Ravenclaw, the theme of our new garden would be tropical. But if it was in reverse, the theme of our new garden would be medieval._

_I don't know what kind of theme is that but you know your father, he's always been into these kinds of things._

_We both lost so we came to the agreement that we'll just do what you two want our new garden to be once the school year ends. Alem seemed very enthusiastic about the garden, why don't you ask him about some ideas?_

_Speaking about Malfoy, his son is attending Hogwarts too, isn't he? Now, (Y/N), I know that we and the Malfoy family aren't in the best terms but please do not start anything... unfriendly, with his son. I know you, (Y/N) Rosewood, you are quick to be aggressive and quite the provoker in many ways._

_This letter is getting long, dear so I'm afraid that I am going to stop here. I expect you to write back to me within two days. I cannot wait to read about your first experience in Hogwarts with your brother._

_I love you, (Y/N)! Do well in your studies and never forget that we're here rooting for you!_

_Love, Mother_

»»————- ♡ ————-««

I couldn't say a word. Not a single one after I've read the extremely long letter that my supposed "mother", in this universe, had sent me.

The emotion I felt wasn't happiness but it wasn't sadness either; it was of surprise and self-pity.

Why I had felt he emotion of pity, I don't know.

But, seeing how I felt somewhat loved and important to someone else for once in this miserable life of mine, made me feel like I didn't deserve it.

I cheated my way through this but... I accepted it either way.

Because acceptance is the only thing that keeps me going in this world when it comes to choices that I made far ago.

So with a fake reassurance I've created in my head, I let those emotions of love and importance fill my mind and that this is, indeed, what I came for.

This is what I agreed for.

The more I fill these emotions in my mind, the more I envelop myself and let myself be controlled by them.

Eventually, I forget that I've only filled the empty void with fake emotions and I am now someone who I've always wanted to be.

"Was it mum?" Alem pressed his soft cheeks with mine, peering in the letter that our mother had sent us.

I grumbled and pushed him away from me, folding the letter back to how it was folded before and placed it inside the envelope so I could keep it later on and save it.

"Yes, it was and stop getting so close to me." I replied, placing the envelope inside my pocket and glancing over at the second unopened letter.

"What's in that, though?" I asked. Alem looked over at the second envelope and grabbed it with a shrug.

We both looked over at it for a moment until Alem opened the envelope with his small hands.

He took two photos from the inside of the envelope and as he glanced over at the two of them quickly, his expression morphed into discomfort and I could see him cringing with his furrowed eyebrows.

At this point, I began to feel curious and peered over at Alem's shoulder.

The first photo I saw made me snicker and snort, looking away to prevent myself from laughing any further.

It was a moving picture of our younger self. We were both wearing the same outfit; young sailor costume with the colors of white and navy blue, along with a cute hat that resembled like a pirate.

I stood beside Alem and I was slightly taller than him by a few inches or so.

My arm was draped around his shoulder as I grinned and made a peace sign at the camera while Alem was holding my arm with a frustrated expression and he was trying to peer my arm off me which caused him to struggle a bit, considering our difference in height.

Even Alem looked like a girl back then. Well, he looked so much more like a girl than he was now. 

"Stop laughing!" Alem slapped my forearm and placed the picture away.

All I could do was chuckle back as a response to my brother who looked and sounded flustered at the old memory that came back to him.

I glanced over at the second picture and I could definitely say that this one caught my attention the most.

A couple stood on a rocky cliff with the view of the cloudy mountains and the wide green forest below them as clear as the blue skies they were peering up above their heads.

The woman had glimmering (E/C) eyes that shone as bright as the sun that warmed and shined her chestnut brown hair that flowed freely upon the winds that seemingly passed her by.

Beside her, holding her hand as tight as he could, is a tall, slightly muscular man that had messy yet very fitting (H/C) hair.

He had strong and captivating blue eyes that I wouldn't blame the woman for falling for him because of those eyes of his.

They look very much in love and their smiles were so wide and full of life that even I can feel myself smiling just looking at them.

Judging from their appearance, they must be our parents.

My face is a combination of theirs while Alem mostly got his face from our mum since he looks like a feminine boy.

Come to think of it, our height is pretty much the same now that we're 11 years old.

We are surpassing each other's height and it wouldn't surprise me if Alem ends up becoming taller than me a few years later, to be honest.

"They look so happy." Alem commented and I only nodded in response, my eyes half lidded since the same thoughts of my other parents in this world returned to me again.

They both look so different from my real parents.

I got my hair and my eyes from my mother but my face that of my father.

I despised having a similar appearance of that shit faced man and being reminded of him everytime I look into the mirror.

In this world, it's basically the same but with a little bit of changes.

It's either that or my young 11 year old face is just making me think that way.

"...Mum and dad have been busy recently." Alem slightly frowned, placing the two moving pictures inside the envelope and keeping it inside his robe pocket.

From his tone, it seems like he doesn't like the fact that our parents are working and from that, they must be working often that Alem says something like that.

"You can't blame them; they're working after all." I told, glancing around the Great Hall and watching the other students talking to each other and working on their school works while eating their breakfast.

Alem didn't say anything and instead, stood up from his seat with his book held on his hand.

My brother sent me a smile but as seconds pass by, his smile eventually morphs into a smirk as if he was thinking of something mischievous and any other thoughts that he was thinking just a while ago completely disappeared.

"I get dibs on the best presents that mum and dad will send to us this Christmas." He stated and I rolled my eyes as a scoff left my lips.

I also stood up and began to ruffle his fluffy and messy hair that has the same color as mine.

"You can't call dibs on that, you idiot; they'll be labeled!" I laughed while Alem screeched and attempted to pry my hand off away from his hair.

"Get your hand away from my hair, (Y/N)!" He attempted to bite my hand off like a hungry dinosaur but I immediately retracted my hand away with a chuckle.

Alem growled at my carefree reaction but I wasn't phased by his growl.

It looked like a small kitten trying to act all intimidating, to be honest.

"U-Um..." Some shy, timid voice caught our attention and I didn't need to look up to know who it was.

Alem did though and his scowling face disappeared as he looked up to see who was trying to get our attention.

I glanced over and saw Neville standing there awkwardly with my wand held tightly on his hand.

He felt somewhat intimidated by Alem's presence since he was already glaring at my wand and at Neville.

"Hey, Longbottom!" I waved and draped my arm over Alem, showing my friendly attitude and Neville is someone who he shouldn't be suspicious about.

"What brings you to the Slytherin table this morning?" Grinning at the shy Gryffindor, Neville opened his mouth to speak up to say something, presumably about last night until certain voices stopped him.

"What's a Gryffindor doing here?" One Slytherin student whispered to his seat mate, eyeing us and Neville who kept his mouth shut and looked down in slight fear.

"Isn't that the Gryffindor that messed up a few days ago?" Another student chuckled and after that, a few whispers began to circle around the table and it seriously started to piss me off.

The Gryffindor boy in front of me started to tremble and looked like he almost wanted to cry. Alem glanced over at my annoyed face for a while and hummed slightly but I smiled since I knew what he was trying to say.

"Excuse me," I grabbed the attention of my housemates who were starting to bad mouth Neville. 

Salazar, the boy hasn't done anything to you. Why pick on him like that?

"I'd appreciate it if you all wouldn't interrupt our discussion with your loud gossips." I glare at the Slytherin students who, some, had glared back at me.

Alem lightly slapped my arm since hefelt like what I said was too rude. I lowly growled and forced myself to make a crooked smile.

Can't make more enemies, gotta remember that.

"This is a matter between the three of us, so leave us alone... please?" I cringe at the word I added at the end of my speech.

I wasn't used to saying 'please' so give me a break.

The rest of the students' glare softened slightly and looked away from us, going back to their own business.

I sighed softly and looked back at Neville, who's posture had loosened and he looked relieved. He also gave me an appreciative smile to which I returned.

"Anyway, what did you want to talk about?" Alem spoke first with a tone of haste. It seems like he isn't fond of Neville or maybe just other houses coming to our table in general since it's not good for them.

"O-Oh, I wanted to give this back to (Y/N)--" Neville stammered and I panicked as I glanced over at Alem's skeptical look as he saw my wand that Neville is handing over to me.

"Merlin's beard, I've been looking all over for this!" I fake a shocked look with a slight crack on my voice since I was too nervous and panicked to even think of my voice.

"Thank you, Longbottom! Never thought that you'd be the one who'd find it!" I laughed, grabbing my wand and keeping it close within my chest.

Neville is shocked, not that I blame him; I wouldn't know what the fuck is going on either if someone randomly just acted weird.

And is doing a poor job of hiding something.

"Yes..." The Gryffindor mumbled, still confused. Alem threw Neville and I a skeptical glare and I flinched, seeing how hard his glare was.

I am sure to get another earful of questions later after I'm finished talking with this boy over here.

"A-Also...!" Neville straightened up, catching both of our attention with my expression returning back to a normal one.

"I wanted to t-thank you for standing up for me back in flying lessons!" He exclaimed but not too loudly that he got almost everyone's attention.

I looked confused for a moment as to what he was talking about but I remembered that I did try to get Neville's remembrall back when Draco took it from my hands when I was clearly the first one to get it.

"Ah, you don't have to thank me for that, Longbottom," I waved my hand around, chuckling since I did feel like his gratitude is unnecessary.

"Besides, it was Potter who got your remembrall back, not me." I added, inserting both of my hands inside my robe pockets.

Neville pursed his lips and grabbed his other arm, tugging on it while looking down to the floor.

"Still, you did try to take it back, even though you don't really know me so..." The Gryffindor's voice became quiet the more he kept talking that it's becoming impossible to understand what he's saying but nonetheless, I understood him and simply smiled as I saw that there's no way to change his mind when it comes to things like this.

Besides, it's a thanks. I don't usually get them so why not accept the gratitude that he has for me?

"Well, you're welcome, I guess." Letting out a sigh from my nose, Neville returned my smile and I could tell that he looks more confident as if all burden had left his shoulders.

Before I could exchange any words of goodbyes, Neville turned around and gave me a short "okay, bye" and a small wave before he skipped his way towards the Gryffindor table with the Weasley twins and other Gryffindors, who greeted him with a teasing look.

I heard my brother sigh beside me so I turned to look at him to see what's wrong.

"You're too nice sometimes at other people, you know that?" Alem chuckled and before I could ask him what he meant by that, he was already walking away and I had to walk fast just so I could keep up with him.

"Hey, what the heck is that supposed to mean!?"

»»————- ♡ ————-««

The day is over.

I immediately walked back to the Slytherin common room because I felt too tired and I couldn't keep my eyes open.

Heck, I couldn't even focus on Professor McGonagall's lessons and I thank the lucky stars for not letting the Gryffindor head notice my fatigue and sleepy expression or else I'd spend the rest of the night doing another set of work I didn't want to do.

Alem let me go first since he had some reading to do before heading back. I swear, how is he not a Ravenclaw? I never really thought that Alem would be the studious type when I first saw him. Then again, he's the more "serious" twin.

That's what I observed, at least.

"Pureblood." I told the fat lady the password. As the painting had swung to the side, I stepped in and sighed, thinking about crashing my 11 year old body straight to my bed without taking my uniform off since I'm too freaking tired.

Who the hell thinks about taking their uniform off when they're too sleepy?

As a yawn escaped my lips, I pushed myself through the small horde of Slytherin students while rubbing my eyes sleepily.

Merlin, I just want to teleport at my room and then crash at my bed.

Just as I was thinking about the pure bliss of sleep, I felt my shoulder being bumped by someone which caused me to slightly stumble back since I was so out of it.

I looked up with a glare to see who could've bumped me while I was feeling so goddamn sleepy.

"Why don't you watch where you're going, Rosewood?" Parkinson growled, dusting off her shoulder as if it had some germ in it just because I bumped into her.

"You're spreading your 'blood traitor' disease all over." She added just to make her friends laugh. I didn't want to speak to her and just walk towards my room without any word said.

"I don't have time for any of your insulting bullshit that you have for me, Parkinson." I grumbled before walking past her with my sling bag handle held tightly in my hand.

Who knows if she's going to pull an Accio or she's going to forcefully pull my bag away from me.

If she does either, I'm going to pull her hair.

I heard her and her friends gasped loudly from the fact that I just cussed. Is cussing really a rare thing in this universe or something?

Since they were too shocked to comprehend the fact that I just swore at them, I easily walked my way towards my room, feeling slightly confident and the feeling of sleepiness slightly fading away.

"Ah, home sweet-" The moment I pushed the door open with a smile, I was immediately greeted by Draco, who was sitting right at the edge of his bed while he was writing something on a parchment.

My smile froze and eventually melted. I didn't want to deal with him.

I still held the handle of the door open and I kept staring at him with my replica of the surprised pikachu face on the doorway.

The Malfoy heir glanced up to me and I flinched, looking away.

"Are you gonna come in or not?" His tone that's filled with annoyance made me snap out of my bashful state and close the door behind me.

My sleepiness faded almost immediately that it's scary. Dammit, I came back to the common room because I wanted to sleep. I didn't expect daddy issues boy to be here!

"You're back early." Draco commented as I walked towards my bed and threw my bag on it. Okay, I did not expect him to start a conversation.

Shit.

"Uh... Yeah." Is all I could respond. I don't know what to say or how to act around him anymore after I pushed him away last night and acted very rude to him this morning.

I am just... really scared of him right now. There's something about him that's just not right, something that makes me stay away from him.

It must be because of my past trauma but I feel like it's just a part of the reason why he's suddenly unapproachable for me.

"So, why are you acting very weird around me?" He asked and I could feel him standing up from his bed, his parchment set aside.

I am now mentally panicking since I don't know how to respond to his sudden question. Goddamn it, this is the worst day ever.

"I don't know what you mean." I pulled a 'dumbass' card out of nowhere, hoping that his answer would be enough to make him realize that I don't want to talk to him right now.

I still can't find it in myself to face him.

Ugh, who knew being an 11 year old would be this serious.

"Are you... scared of me?" The moment I felt fingertips pressing against the edge of my skin on my shoulder, I turned around and slapped his hand away instantaneously with a shocked, fear-filled expression spread across my face.

Draco also looked shocked; he probably didn't expect me to slap his hand away like that.

I pursed my lips, slightly quivering and walked past him.

I wanted to get out of the room for now and wait until Alem was back. I don't want to stay alone with Draco in the room.

Before I could place my hand on the doorknob, I was immediately pulled back by the platinum blonde haired boy.

"What are you so afraid of!?" He exclaimed, his expression in disdain. He looks like he's about to cry but that's what I didn't understand.

Why does he look like that? Why can't he understand he's making me uncomfortable?

"Did someone put a curse on you--"

I raised my wand, pointed it at his face. His desperate reaction scared me and the unknown reason that comes out of that reaction scared me more that I actually felt the need to raise my wand at his face.

Draco released my hand from his grasp and took a step back.

He doesn't know why I'm doing this either but heck, I can't find it in myself to explain to him why I'm partially acting like this.

"Please just... stay away from me." I stammered, pressing my back against the wooden door.

His face dropped and his urge to cry seemed to grow stronger every second as he lowered his head down.

It took him a few seconds to look up to me, his eyes half lidded and lost of life. As if my words had given him a huge negative impact.

I lowered my wand, confused and scared both for myself and for the boy in front of me.

"I understand." Draco said, walking towards me and I instinctively stepped aside in fear that he might try something.

"I won't get close to you anymore." He said before leaving the room and slamming the door on my face.

The room is silent and Iclicked my tongue, running my fingers through my hair because I was so stressed.

I start to bite my lip until I stomped my foot on the wooden floor, gritting my teeth in anger.

"Fuck!" I exclaimed, panting heavily since I'm so frustrated.

I didn't want to act like this. I don't want to push anyone away because of my poor ways of restraining my emotions.

But the damage is done. I don't think I could ever fix things with Draco ever again. Dammit, why did he have to act so weird around me lately?

I kick the air and walked towards my bed, plopping myself to the bed with my wand sitting beside me.

Suddenly, I felt tired because of all the emotional outburst and I've been reminded of all the things I did today.

As I drifted off into sleep, I kept thinking about all the people that I've affected because I couldn't control my emotions.

I need to fix this issue of mine if I have to fix things in the future, especially with that platinum blonde haired midget.

**»»————- ♡ ————-««**

**A/N:**   
**Hello everyone! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! This is more of a "filler" chapter that was meant to show something from the Reader's past life in the HP AU but if I did that, the chapter would end up being over** **15k** **words so no, I have no time to do that lol.**

**I will show you Reader's past in this** **AU** **in future chapters and the next chapter will focus more on the main story so things will continue from there.**

**I apologize if I** **hadn** **'t made any Christmas or New Years special for all of you! I intended for the special to be on the same time as the Christmas time in the first movie but I've been so busy that I** **couldn** **'t find any time to write or rush the chapters since they tend to get long and besides, I don't really like rushing chapters too much.**

**I will make it up to you soon though! A new contender is joining the battle in the next few chapters so be on the lookout for that one lol**


	11. I - X:「Trolls and Pillow Forts」

❝ **I will protect you from any harm.**  
 **If anyone tries to hurt you, I will kill them.** ❞

**»»----- ♡ -----««**

I sigh, tapping my quill on my desk with a slight amount of sound so it wouldn't bother anyone.

Alem is sitting right next to me while keeping his un-breaking attention to our Potions teacher with his own Potions book left wide open in front of him and his own fancy red quill held on his right hand.

It's been a few months since Draco and I have had that argument in our own dorm room.

Now, I feel bad, obviously. He didn't know that I was triggered by his actions a few months ago when I was back in the common room after Harry, Ron, Hermione and I saw Fluffy in the third floor.

But all I could feel was the anger and the fear that was mixed in that moment that I couldn't find it in myself to actually speak to him properly or even forgive him.

My pride isn't even allowing me to do that anyway.

Ever since then, we didn't talk to each other.

We would occasionally glance at each other from time to time to acknowledge that we were in the same room but that's about it.

No 'hello's were involved or even one word of greeting from the two of us.

Now, is it fair for me to just keep on ignoring him when it's clearly my own fault and my own feelings making these stupid and dumb decisions that might make me feel immense regret for the rest of the year?

No, of course not but what else can I do?

My anxiety and my overthinking thoughts wouldn't let me waltz up to him and go: "Hey, Draco! Sorry for ignoring you for a few months now! It wasn't your fault and it was mine so are we cool now?"

And besides, that would be extremely awkward on its own.

Alem found it weird that we weren't communicating anymore but he didn't question anything and probably thought that it's for the best.   
Putting these thoughts aside, I also had to help Harry and the two Gryffindors figure out some things that Fluffy might be guarding in that trap door although I already knew what it was in the first place.

It's hard acting so clueless almost 99% of the time because I just get this urge of wanting to tell them the things that are going to happen right away.

But, of course I shouldn't do anything because I can't afford to change anything in this world.

I might be dreaming in this world and I can freely change anything if I want to but I can't afford to take that risk.

Not now, at least.

Now that I think about it, I haven't seen Erised for the past few months either.

They haven't been teasing me or bothering me but really, it's for the best.

I don't want to see them anyway and I don't want them to constantly remind me that I'm dreaming this world and I'm on my way to my grave because I still don't know the task that Erised wants me to do.

"...you will find all of those information on page 189 to page 194." Professor Snape's monotone voice along with the entire class' groans snapped me back to reality.

I realized that I haven't been paying attention to Professor Snape for half of the class.

I mentally cursed myself as I glanced down at my book and noticed that I was on page 178 while Alem was on page 185.

I hurriedly closed my book as the Potions teacher was heading towards me, or to make it less intimitading, to the door of the classroom.

He didn't need to know that I wasn't paying attention to him for a while unless I wanted detention.

Though it's more unlikely that he's going to put Slytherin students in detention anyway.

He's given me a couple of warnings before but never punished me.

I can't say the same for the other houses though, especially Gryffindor.

I guess that's one thing I shouldn't worry about but I know I can't take advantage of Professor Snape's tolerating attitude towards the Slytherin house.

If I go too far, he's probably going to expel me.

As Professor Snape left the classroom, multiple students began to pack up and filed out of the classroom as well like a bunch of ants.

I also began to pack up, placing my books, my notes, my quill and my ink bottle inside my bag.

"Uh, Alem... What's on page 189 and page 194?" I asked as stand up and sling my bag over my shoulder.

Alem looked up to me in confusion and stopped arranging his books and his notes.

"Haven't you been listening?" He asked with one eyebrow cocked up. I gave my brother a sheepish smile and looked away shamefully.

"I... uh... have been listening but only on the first half of the class." I chuckle nervously at my brother who sighed and inserted his books and his notes inside his own bag.

"Then you don't need to worry about it; it's basically the same lesson but Professor Snape just wanted us to add a little bit more information and wanted us to understand it by ourselves by reading what's on those pages." Alem stood up and also slings his bag over his shoulder.

"No homework?" I asked with a little hint of hopefulness in my voice.

I've been bombarded with a lot of homework recently and I just want to take a rest without getting another one right after finishing one.

"Essay, actually. One roll of parchment." Alem smiles and starts to walk out of the classroom while I was left there while groaning loudly.

Just when I thought I could have a little moment of peace.

"Are you kidding me!?" I start to follow Alem by running up to him as he reached the door.

"And no, I'm not helping you this time." Alem said, taking a left turn with his (H/C) hair bouncing in every step. His words were enough to make me cry internally.

Almost all of my essays and homework get an E because Alem helped with most of them by helping me write some important points and words down that are necessary to the demon spawn that is homework.

If he didn't, I get an A which is fairly... okay, I guess. I mean, I only want to pass anyway but I just felt like I could do better than that.

"I already have a bunch of homework that are almost due and I need to stay focused on them." Alem added while running his fingers through his now messy hair.

I pouted but it's not like I can keep relying on him anyway.

I'm the oldest twin, for god's sake. I need to act like one.

"It's fine. It's my fault anyway but can you, at least, define me some stuff I can't understand?" I pout as I walk beside my brother. He shrugs and keeps his eyes forward while avoiding any students he could bump on the way.

"Eh, sure. Just don't bother me a lot when I'm doing some work, alright?" Alem said as I nod at his answer with a grin plastered on my face.

He's the best brother ever.

I take my eyes away from Alem and they immediately landed on the platinum blonde haired boy that was about to walk past us.

Draco was walking right between Crabbe and Goyle as always but beside Crabbe was a tall boy with a stern look on his face. He kinda reminded me of Dean for some reason.

But the only other Slytherin boy I know who's tall besides Draco and Alem (although he isn't really that tall) is Blaise Zabini so I assume that he's Zabini.

I didn't keep my attention to Zabini for long as I returned them back to Draco, who's now staring back at me.

His eyes were half-lidded as he stared at me but beneath those eyes of his was an emotion I couldn't really put my finger on. It's like he was putting on a mask.

But I didn't miss the slight hint of sadness that he had in his eyes.

It was almost un-noticable until I realized I was deeply staring into his own eyes which was embarrassing.

I only blinked at him as we passed each other through this busy hallway full of chatty students who couldn't care less about anyone passing them.

I narrowed my eyes and felt another twinge of guilt running down my conscience.

I really, really hate this feeling.

Out of all the emotions I had to feel, this one had to come down and ruin my day now, didn't it?

Guilt was something I didn't want to feel anymore. It was a distracting emotion that messes with my own thoughts and makes me overthink about a lot of things.

It makes me want to decide things using my own emotions although I do that a lot already.

I huff, silently gritting my teeth and trying to forget that encounter just now.

"(Y/N)?" I heard Alem call my name beside me. I snapped out of my own thoughts and gave my attention back to Alem, who looked at me with a confused glare.

"Oh, sorry. I was thinking about some things." I apologized and gave him a smile. He frowned slightly but didn't take it any further.

"Do you have any plans for tonight?" He asked while grinning enthusiastically. It was my turn to become confused.

Well, this is new. He wasn't usually this cheerful.

"Uh, no. Why do you ask?" I pursed my lips and glanced around my surroundings for a short moment to see where we are now.

We're right in front of the Great Hall. The bustling movements and the loud chatters of the students filled my ears.

It almost felt like it was a market of some sort.

"Jeez, did you forget already?" Alem asked. I turned to look at him, confused about what he was talking about.

"Forget what?" I asked with one of my eyebrows raised. My brother sighed and gave me a look with his head slightly tilted to the side.

"(Y/N), it's Halloween." He simply stated and began to walk inside the Great Hall with me following shortly behind him with a surprised look on my face.

I mentally face palmed myself.

Oh, how could I forget such an important day!? Today's the day where Quirrell was going to let a mountain troll in inside Hogwarts as a distraction to get past Fluffy!

 _You stupid idiot,_ I thought to myself with scorn.

I was going to plan something for tonight and today but the thought of Halloween just slipped off of my mind that I didn't even plan anything at all!

Ugh, this sucks.

"O-Oh, yeah. I guess it just slipped away from my mind." I chuckled nervously as we reached the Slytherin table.

I set my bag down and sat down on the bench, trying to make myself comfortable.

Alem took the empty spot next to me and pouted as he glanced over at my nervous face.

"How can it just 'slip away' from your mind? It's your favorite holiday-" Alem paused, closing his eyes before opening both of his eyes and his mouth once more.

" _Our_ favorite holiday, I mean." He said and grabbed a spoon from the table.

"I wouldn't say Halloween is my favorite holiday...?" My voice squeaked at the end as Alem turned to look at me with a both confused and sad look.

"I mean, eh... I'm pretty neutral about every single holiday so..." I fumbled with my words.

I was trying to reassure Alem that I wasn't into Halloween (though I'm not really into it in the first place) because it's also his favorite holiday.

Why? I wouldn't know.

I'm his older brother/sister but it's not like I know everything about him. I wasn't aware that I would have a brother in this fictional world, anyway.

Alem gently dropped his spoon to the tad as he kept his sad gaze on me with his shoulders slumped, making me feel bad all of a sudden.

Oh god, I messed up big time. I didn't mean to hurt his feelings or anything! That wasn't my intent!

"Oh... right, you lost your memories." He said and turned his eyes away from me as he lifted his spoon to get a serving of some random food on the table.

I blinked.

Oh yeah, I _lost_ my memories. I can't really wrap my head around this entire memories scenario.

I mean, I just came here in this fictional world to escape my real world and have fun.

I didn't expect that I'd have a twin brother and a history in this world.

I didn't even expect that I'd have a family. A loving and stable family at that.

I was surprised, to say the least.

I wonder why Erised just gave me all of these... people who I'm supposedly close with.

I don't even know these people to begin with, so why bother?

I guess it's for me to fit in better in this world? But why add too much people?

It feels like I'm in a poorly written fanfiction.

"Oh yeah right... I-I did." I stuttered and glanced away from my brother.

Silence engulfed the two of us and the only thing that I can hear are the noisy students in the Great Hall.

Well shit, this is getting awkward. I don't know what to say anymore.

"You've... been pretty calm about it for the past few months." I horribly tried to start a conversation.

My aim was to steer away from the memory loss subject but being the idiot that I am, I couldn't think of anything else so I just went for that.

"Well, just like you, it slipped away from my mind and I didn't really think about it too much because I know you'll get them back in a few days or so because I assumed that you just hit your head very hard but..." Alem spared me a one second glance before he continued to fill his plate with food.

"I guess that wasn't the case." He flatly said, placing his plate down gently to the table.

He still looked sad. I guess he was looking forward to our Halloween celebration tonight.

I felt bad. He might not be my real brother but he's still family to me.

I should, at least, make it up to him for being a forgetful older brother/sister.

"So what do we do on Halloween? What makes it so special to us?" I smile and picked my plate up from the table, along with a spoon in order to grab all of these delicacies I see before me.

"Well we..." Alem paused for a while, looking sideways as if he was contemplating whether he should tell me or not.

"We make grab our blankets and our pillows... and we use them to build our own pillow fort." He chuckled, a memory flashing through his (E/C) eyes.

It was nice, seeing him like that.

"We grab our flashlights and use them as our light source but since it wasn't enough to light up the entire fort, we would sneak down to the storage room and steal the Christmas lights." He continued, laughing in mid-sentence.

I hummed to make him know that I was still listening.

Hearing this from Alem makes me feel all warm and fuzzy because it sounds like we both had a pretty wonderful childhood, building forts and all that.

"We litter the interior and the exterior of the fort with the Christmas lights but since we were scared of getting electrocuted, we don't... plug it so we just leave it like that." He takes a breath before he continues the story.

"Then, we start to lay down and... tell each other stories that we randomly think of. We always start our stories off with something scary but halfway through the story, we just butcher it by making it sound cute. Then, we continue to do this until one of us falls asleep... and the one who falls asleep first will have to do a scary dare." Alem grabbed his spoon and took a spoonful of his own food from his plate and as I placed my plate down to the table and looked at him, signalling for him to continue.

"It may not be much but... everything just feels so peaceful during our Halloween nights because it's just us in our little pillow fort. It reminds me of the fact that; even when we often disagree and fight each other, we're still siblings and we're inseparable and we still have time to make up with each other by telling silly stories or just... stealing Christmas lights even though it's Halloween..." Alem stared at his spoon for a moment until he lowered it down to his plate and turned to look at me with a sad smile.

He didn't say anything after that but he didn't need to.

I understand what he was trying to say with that sad smile of his.

I opened up my mouth to speak but Alem's chuckle cut me off.

"It doesn't matter, (Y/N). I know that we also need to grow up sometimes and you know, we're wizards and witches now so we need to be more serious and all that." Alem said, his voice obviously laced with sadness as he turned away from me and gently lifted his spoon up to his mouth.

I couldn't say anything.

No words could come out of my mouth.

. . .

. . .

There it is again, the same feeling that I felt when I saw Draco earlier.

It crawls up to my spine which makes my body feel tingly in a very bad way.

My mind was clouded with grim and sad thoughts as I glanced away from my eating brother.

I began to eat in silence as well. The chattering noises of the students around the Great Hall washed over me like a huge tsunami and I was forced to retreat back to my silent thoughts in order to block them all away from my ears.

Alem's my brother. No doubt about that.

He was the first person I've ever been introduced to ever since I came into this world with no memories.

I'm sure it meant that he was very important to me somehow and the fact that he's still with me even though I'm acting as a horrible older brother/sister only strengthens that meaning.

I don't know _anything_ about him or what he really is before we came to Hogwarts but that doesn't change the fact that I'm still his older brother/sister who he could look up to or just have fun with in general.

I don't want to ruin that for him.

So I need to do something, at least.

»»----- ♡ -----««

"One of a wizard's most rudimentary skills is levitation or the ability to make objects fly!" Professor Flitwick waved his hands around for a short while while he held his own wand.

(Y/N) sat next to Alem with their eyes half-lidded as drowsiness was starting to consume their entire body.

They tried to fight it though since they had to stay awake for the next incident that's about to happen.

"Now, do you have all your feathers?" Professor Flitwick asked, casting his small eyes around the class.

He gave Hermione a soft smile when she grabbed her own feather from her desk and lifted it up for Professor Flitwick to see.

Ron glanced over at Hermione and rolled his eyes as he returned his attention back to the Charms teacher with his head nestled between his arms and the Charms book placed underneath his arms.

"Wonderful! Now, remember the motion that we practiced, everyone!" Professor Flitwick raised his hand,

"Swish and flick!" He said, repeating the same words twice while the other students follow their Charms teachers' actions.

(Y/N) just felt groggy to even follow what Professor Flitwick was doing.

They were just tired all of a sudden.

It wasn't until Alem lightly nudged them from the side which caused their (E/C) to snap open from the sudden contact.

(Y/N) sent Alem a glare before straightening themselves on their seat and tried to stay focused.

Alem, satisfied with what his older sibling is doing, returned their attention back to the Charms teacher.

"Now, with that motion, I want you all to make the feather levitate using the spell 'Wingardium Leviosa'," Professor Flitwick said and got into a stance,

"Wingardium Leviosa, off you go!" He clapped his hands as the students grabbed their wands and did the 'swish and flick' motion but couldn't really pronounce the spell right which is why it wasn't working.

(Y/N) blinked tiredly and snatched their wand from their table after they yawned softly.

They stared at their wand for a moment until they looked beside them to see how Alem was doing with this simple instruction.

He wasn't really doing anything either. Alem was just looking at the other students chanting the spell wrong with the same hand movements with their wands held on their hands.

The youngest Rosewood knew that he could do it better, not trying to be cocky or anything.

But, he really can.

(Y/N) shifted their attention to Hermione, who was already wincing as Ron was waving his wand up and down vigorously.

"No stop, stop, stop, stop." The bushy haired Gryffindor intervened and held Ron back from trying to conjure the spell.

"You're going to take someone's eye out." She says, clearly annoyed as she gave Ron a look.

The other Gryffindor huffed annoyingly as well, placing his wand down to the table, creating a soft thud sound.

"Besides, you're saying it wrong; it's Levi-o-sa not Levio-saa." Hermione dragged the 'saa' from the Leviosa, almost as if she was mocking the red haired Gryffindor in front of her.

Ron, who clearly had enough of her attitude, rolled his eyes and scoffed at Hermione.

"You do it then if you're so clever." He cocked his eyebrows up mockingly.

"Go on, go on!" He said, egging Hermione to do the spell right.

Hermione rolled her eyes and turned her attention to her feather as she coughed softly for a short moment before doing the 'swish and flick' motion that Professor Flitwick wanted everyone to do.

"Wingardium Leviosa." The bushy haired Gryffindor casted with no mistakes.

On cue, the feather started floating mid-air, catching the eyes of many other students who were still trying to do the spell right.

Hermione flicks her hand up so that the feather keeps going up until it caught the attention of Professor Flitwick, who exclaimed happily at the sight.

"Well done! See here, everyone? Miss Granger's done it!" Professor Flitwick smiled happily at the female Gryffindor which caused her to smirk at the red haired Gryffindor beside her, who was annoyed and nestled his head back again between his arms while muttering some things between his breath.

Alem felt himself smiling as he saw Hermione being successful with conjuring the spell at her first try which led him to pick his own wand up and mimicked what Hermione did.

"Wingardium Leviosa." The youngest Rosewood said and the feather began to float mid-air.

He didn't stop there, however.

Alem flicked his wrist to the left which caused the feather to violently swoop over to the left.

The students' attention was now on the violent feather that Alem controlled which made them gawk from the fact that he also conjured the same spell right.

Alem flicked his wrist around, allowing the feather to move around the room to his liking.

(Y/N) chuckled to themselves as they began to see the feather that their brother controlled as a bird.

Not wanting to be left out, (Y/N) waved their wand around the feather.

"Wingardium Leviosa." An on cue, the feather also began to levitate.

With a sly grin, (Y/N) zoomed their feather towards Alem's, who was casually floating around the room without a care in the world.

Their feather crashed at Alem's, making the youngest Rosewood's feather stumble away softly from the sudden impact.

Alem glanced at (Y/N) with narrowed yet mischievous (E/C) eyes that asked 'are you challenging me?'

"How delightful! Even the Rosewood twins have done it! Keep up the good work everyone!" Professor Flitwick clapped his hands with glee but the Rosewood twins paid no heed to their teacher's compliment.

They were having a staring contest but they also had sly grins plastered on their faces.

Thing were about to get heated between the two until a loud explosive echoed around the room, causing the twins' gazes to snap away from each other and turned to look at their classmate who caused the explosion.

Seamus Finnigan, a Gryffindor who has the tendency to blow things up with just a flick of their wand, stared at his burnt feather floating down to his desk as the sizzles around the fluffy item was still visible to the naked eye.

Professor Flitwick almost stumbled back from his podium while he looked at Seamus with a completely surprised look.

"...I think we're gonna need a new feather over here, sir..." Harry said, looking back at Seamus with the same shocked look that everyone has.

How can he even manage to blow things up randomly?

»»----- ♡ -----««

Charms class is over.

As everyone was packing up, my eyes traced over to Hermione who was just packing her things up.

I bite my lip and turned to look at Alem, who already got his things in his bag.

"Do you mind going ahead first? I'll meet you in the Great Hall tonight for the Halloween feast." I smiled, slinging my bag over my shoulder.

Alem looked confused but shrugged and nodded nonetheless.

"Alright. I'll see you there." Alem waved as he walked out of the classroom.

I returned his wave before walking up to Hermione with a gulp of breath.

"Hey, Hermione! Good job back there! You're really skilled with spells, huh?" I complimented, gripping the handle of my bag tight.

Starting a conversation is something I can't do so the immense anxiety I have right now is almost eating me whole.

What if I say something wrong?

"Oh, thank you. You and your brother seems to be more skillful than I am, though." Hermione chuckles and slings her bag over her shoulder before grabbing her books and holding them close to her chest.

"Ah... yeah, we used to... do some practice spells before we came to Hogwarts, I guess?" I laughed nervously as I began to think back at that time when Alem said that we were practicing spells, including Obliviate, before we came here.

I guess that explains how Alem's already great with spells though I'm still a little bit sucky at it.

"I've done the same thing. They've all worked for me so I assume that your practice spells worked too?" Hermione grinned and we began to file out of the classroom.

"Yeah. I'm still a little bit... erm, inexperienced though." (Y/N) cracked a nervous smile but Hermione simply chuckled once more and turned her eyes to the path.

"You're very strange, (Y/N)." The Gryffindor beside them said. (Y/N) cocked their eyebrow up in confusion as they looked at Hermione.

"Pardon?" They asked.

Hermione heard the tone of their voice and immediately assumed that they were offended by her words.

"Oh, I didn't mean for it to be a bad thing." She reassured with a smile.

"It's just that; you say and act like you know everything that's going on and... well, let's not forget the fact that you're a Slytherin yet you seem to be disconnected from your own house." Hermione said, which made (Y/N) sweat nervously.

They didn't think that it was _that_ obvious.

They tried very hard to act as if they don't know anything at all but they think that it's probably gotten to the point where they started to act in exaggeration.

Which makes it obvious.

"Well, I guess that's just how I am." (Y/N) shrugged while chuckling to ease the tension in their body.

"It's _Levi-_ _oooh_ _-_ _sa_ _!_ not _Levio-_ _saa_ _!_ " Ron mocked Hermione's words during Charms class along with his group of Gryffindor friends chuckling at Ron's impersonation of the female Gryffindor.

Hermione's ears perked at the sound of Ron's voice.

She looked confused but her face immediately morphed into sadness as tears were starting to fall out of her eyes.

(Y/N) frowned, glancing over at Ron, who was laughing along with the other Gryffindors.

"She's a nightmare, honestly! No wonder she hasn't got any friends!" And that was the last straw.

Hermione zoomed away from (Y/N) and bumped Ron along the way, her head hung down low so anyone wouldn't see her tears trickling down to her cheeks.

"Hermione!" (Y/N) called out to their female Gryffindor friend with a huge frown plastered on to their face.

Ron's friends, including Harry, stopped walking as they watched Hermione's figure disappear into the crowd.

"I think she heard you..." (Y/N) heard Harry mumble.

Even though (Y/N) knows that this is all going to be settled soon, they still couldn't shake the feeling of annoyance that they had for Ron in this scene.

He didn't have to say that.

(Y/N), who had a mild angry look on their face walked towards Ron and leaned closer to his face as an act of intimidation.

"Think before you speak, Weasley because I am her friend. If there's anyone who's a nightmare between the two of you for acting so inconsiderate and cocky, it would be you." (Y/N) narrowed their eyes and stepped away from Ron, who gulped and mimicked (Y/N)'s angry look.

The (H/C) haired Slytherin was about to run towards the girl's lavatory to find Hermione until Ron spoke up.

"What, a Slytherin like you? You're just as irresponsible, cocky and inconsiderate like the other Slytherins so don't act like you're any better than them." (Y/N) stopped dead on their tracks with their eyes widened, clearly offended, surprised yet angry at the same time.

Harry tugged on Ron's sleeve, a look of worry spread across his face.

"Ron, let's go." The raven haired boy beckoned for his friend to follow him but Ron wouldn't budge.

The Gryffindor inside him won't let him.

(Y/N) turned around, their eyes narrowed and their lips pursed in anger.

A fire was lighting up inside their own eyes.

A fire of anger.

"Now, listen here, Weasley because I'm only going to say this once." They said as they stomped over to the red haired Gryffindor who slightly flinched at how angry (Y/N) looked.

"Don't go and assume things that you don't know about; I'm a Slytherin, not because I have an attitude that's equivalent to shit but because I have high ambitions and would want them to come true with all my might. That's how important they are to me." (Y/N) poked Ron's chest with their finger scornfully and bit their lip so hard that they were starting to taste the metallic taste of blood circling around their tongue.

Neville, Seamus, Harry and Ron slightly gasped when they heard (Y/N) swear.

Aren't they gonna get in trouble for saying something like that?

"You say that Slytherins act inconsiderate and mean when you're doing the same thing right now. How hypocritical do you have to be?" They shook their head in pure disappointment for Ron, who didn't respond and simply looked away from (Y/N).

"You know what, Weasley? It's fine, I know that you never liked me in the first place and you obviously have no plans of being my friend. So, let's just stick to that and never talk to each other again." (Y/N) scoffed, turning around as their back faced the group.

"Unless you want to get hexed." They walked away from the group in a fast pace and towards the girl's lavatory with their eyes slightly burning from the tears that threatened to spill out.

They held them back, of course. They can't show any form of weakness to anyone.

Draco, who had witnessed the whole thing (much to his displeasure) with his friends, saw (Y/N) walking towards them with their head slightly hung low and their grip on their bag obviously tightened.

"(Y/N)," The platinum haired boy called out as he stepped forward to meet (Y/N) with worry visible on his tone of voice.

The (H/C) haired Slytherin gave them a small quick glance before looking away from Draco.

"Not now, Draco." (Y/N) quickly walked past him and disappearing into the hallway.

They sounded very sad yet at the same time, very annoyed.

Draco watched (Y/N)'s figure disappear until he turned around to look at the red haired Gryffindor who made them feel sad.

The Malfoy's eyes were narrowed in pure rage and his silver eyes almost had a glint of red due to the anger that was seething inside of him.

If looks could kill, Ron would probably be dead by now.

He was starting to breathe heavily, holding himself back from strangling Ron right on the spot.

Draco could care less about the students who were watching him give this dangerous and scary glare that was only intended for Ron, all he could see was red.

And that's what he wanted Ron to be drowned in.

"Draco?" Crabbe called out, waving his hand in front of the Malfoy.

Draco snapped out of his murderous daze and turned to look at Crabbe, a look of anger still visible on his features which caused the boy to flinch.

"What?" He asked, turning away from Ron and starts to walk towards the hallways as Crabbe and Goyle followed him.

"N-Nothing..." Crabbe stuttered and kept his mouth shut.

Draco rolled his eyes at this and kept walking towards the Slytherin common room, all while (Y/N) invaded his thoughts once more.

»»----- ♡ -----««

You stupid, stupid idiot!

I stomped my way to the girl's lavatory with an annoyed look.

Due to the incident that happened just now, I couldn't even think straight or realize that some of the students were looking at me weirdly.

But let's be honest; would I give a shit?

No, I wouldn't.

I let my anger fester and infect me once again. If only I kept my mouth shut and just followed after Hermione, then everything would've went well!

But did I listen to my logical brain?

No.

It would've been easy, damn it. It would've been easier to just follow Hermione after she ran away rather than confronting Ron and telling him to set his mind straight as if I'm some sort of a hero/heroine that saves the day!

I know that I didn't have to do that but the annoyance that I felt for Ron really couldn't be held back.

And now, I begin to mentally curse myself for letting myself being taken over by my emotions.

I hate it so much, I want it to disappear completely from the world.

And now, things are about to get awkward between me and Ron, all because I chose to be a stupid idiot by relying on my emotions to fix the problem which could've been fixed a while ago if I just listened to my brain.

Ugh, it's so frustrating.

Then again, Ron's words stroke a nerve in my body and not in a good way.

I deserved and knew what he was going to say if he was going to retaliate but damn, it still hurts.

I take a sharp breath and held it in to stop myself from crying although my lungs are about to burst and my body is forcing me to just let it all out.

But I wasn't going to listen.

I'm that stubborn.

Eventually, with my angry stomps and my annoyed yet sad look, I reached the girl's lavatory and just taking a peek from the outside made me realize that this bathroom is dimly lit.

Which means that it's creepy.

But nonetheless, I shook my slightly scared self away and stepped inside.

My shoes squeaked against the tiled floors which would obviously make Hermione's ears perk up.

"Mione...?" I called out to the female Gryffindor who was hiding inside one of the bathroom stalls.

I made sure that my voice wasn't cracked or anything, otherwise she'll ask something about what happened.

And I don't want to tell her about it.

I heard a sniffle from the first bathroom stall and immediately knew that Hermione was there.

I mean, she's sitting on the floor so her crouched position is clearly seen as she rests her back against the right side of the wall though I haven't really noticed it at first.

"Are you alright?" I asked as I glanced down at the small opening of the right side of the bathroom stall and saw Hermione shift in her position.

"...I'm fine. Please leave me alone." She said, her voice cracked and a few hiccups accompanying her as she said those words.

My eyes became half-lidded and paused for a moment before settling myself down on the floor and pressing my back against the side of the bathroom stall.

I can feel the heat from Hermione's back radiating towards mine as an indication that she is, indeed, there.

"You don't seem fine to me." I replied and glanced out to the lavatory's doorway.

"I'll keep you company so you wouldn't feel alone, at least." I closed my eyes after a while and took a small deep breath as I listened to the female Gryffindor sniffle and sob for a little while.

"Why are you being... so nice to me?" She asked, sniffling in the process. I opened my eyes at this question and found it ridiculous.

"Is there any reason why I shouldn't be?" I tilt my head slightly to the side as if I'm looking at Hermione from my shoulders.

"Yes!" She exclaimed, her voice echoing around the lavatory and almost caught me off guard from how loud she was.

"You're a Slytherin; you're not supposed to befriend me!" Hermione argued and I couldn't help but scoff at her words silently.

"And I know that you find me annoying, at least!" She added, shifting in her position once more.

I sighed at this.

Honestly, I'm getting tired from all of the Slytherin stereotypes that they're all throwing around.

"Hermione, haven't I already told you that my house doesn't define who I am or who I hang out with? I can be friends with Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws without keeping that house rivalry in mind because it doesn't matter, to me at least." I sighed and closed my eyes once more, feeling the same drowsiness that I had during class come again.

"And it's not an exception when it comes to you." I added and waited for Hermione's reply but I didn't hear anything from her so I continued.

"And sure, I might find you annoying sometimes but that's just what it is; we all have flaws and things that other people might find unpleasant but the only thing that matters if they're good enough to stay, even with all of your flaws." I said before taking a small deep breath from all the words that just came out of my mouth.

I was being honest; Hermione is a really good person but she can be annoying sometimes.

I don't want to say that she's not annoying at all when I did find her annoying a couple of times already.

Because that'd be a lie and the last thing that Hermione would want me to do right now is to lie.

Like they said,

_**Hurt me with the truth, but never comfort me with a lie.** _

I inwardly laughed to myself because I know that I'm being such a hypocrite right now.

I already lied Hermione so many times before and it's not just Hermione,

I've lied to so many people.

So how can I say that what I'm saying to my friend right now, who's asking me to tell her the truth, isn't a lie too?

"...You're so weird." Hermione finally speaks up with a small chuckle escaping her lips. I smiled at this.

"I'll take that as a compliment." I chuckle back and yawned, the urge of just wanting to fall asleep in a dirty, dimly lit lavatory growing stronger.

"Are you tired?" Hermione asks, shifting slightly inside the bathroom stall.

"Yeah... I didn't get enough sleep apparently." My voice became quieter and quieter by the moment as I hugged myself close, using my large Slytherin robe as a makeshift blanket to cover myself from the cold.

Everything was silent for a moment until I heard the sound of a lock clicking and sets of footsteps coming towards me.

The warmth that I felt from Hermione's back disappeared, indicating that she wasn't in the stall anymore.

A shadow towered over me and I raise my head with tired yet curious, half-lidded eyes.

"...Do you want to stay in the stall or..." She asked as she looked away. Her voice was nervous but still cracking due to the sobs and the crying she did a few minutes ago.

Well, considering that the troll is gonna come in and I'm gonna fall asleep for a moment...

"Let's get in the stall; I don't feel safe sleeping in a dimly lit space... if you get what I'm saying." I slowly stand up and dust off any dirt that got on my robe.

Hermione chuckled softly and led me inside the bathroom stall as soon as I finished dusting off any dirt that got on my robe.

I wonder if we can even fit in this small stall.

I mean, we're both 11 year olds so we're technically small too but isn't it gonna be a little cramped, or something?

As I stepped inside and felt Hermiome's shoulders brush with mine as she closed the door, my suspicions were correct.

"It's kinda... cramped in here with the two of us." I glance down and settled myself on the floor.

Good thing that the floor isn't that dirty.

"It is but at least we managed to fit inside." Hermione shrugged and settled on the floor beside me.

We were both trying to get ourselves comfortable by shifting in our positions for a while until my drowsiness took a hold of me once more and made me rest my head on Hermione's shoulder.

She was startled but she relaxed eventually.

Because I was so close to her, I could smell her flowery scent.

It lingers in my nose but I didn't really mind since it's a really good smell too.

It wasn't strong like... men's cologne or something. It's just perfect.

I can't tell if it's from her robe, the uniform underneath it or her shampoo that's causing this flowery scent but my brain's too tired to comprehend where it came from.

"...wake me up..." My voice trailed off as I closed my eyes and let the darkness and dreams overtake my entire mind.

»»----- ♡ -----««

Hermione stared down at the now sleeping (Y/N) beside her.

They were already snoring softly and she'd be lying if she said that their sleeping face and their snores weren't cute.

The Gryffindor started to wonder about (Y/N) again since she couldn't wrap her head around about how complicated they are.

Though, she really is thankful to have the (H/C) haired Slytherin be with her at this moment because they helped her ease her mind away from Ron and the things that he said to her.

Hermione sighed and rested her head on top of (Y/N)'s.

Even with all of the rumbling thoughts invading the Gryffindor's mind, she closed her eyes and tried to mute them all away as she, too, felt herself being dragged away by sleep.

»»----- ♡ -----««

Night fell.

The Great Hall is packed with children chatting happily and eating everything they see on the table as it is the Halloween feast.

And, of course, Halloween.

Multiple pumpkins floated around the room with their eyes and mouth seemingly glowing eerily to give themselves a creepy vibe.

The candles were also floating beside the pumpkins to contribute to their creepiness along with the slight rumble of thunder growing on the fake night sky on the Great Hall's ceiling.

Everything seemed to be perfect tonight.

Until a certain (H/C) haired boy was starting to feel worry and concern for their older sibling as he couldn't spot them or see them in the Slytherin table.

Alem frowned, placing his hands in front of an open book on his lap while he looked around the Great Hall for any signs of his older sibling.

His plate remained empty and he reserved the spot beside him just so he could eat together with (Y/N).

They did tell him that they'll see him during the feast so where are they?

Alem glanced over at the Gryffindor table, thinking that (Y/N) might've sat with the golden trio again but to his dismay, they weren't there either.

And he realized that Hermione wasn't there too.

The youngest Rosewood turned his attention towards Draco and bit his lip, obviously regretting what he was about to say next.

"...Malfoy." He said, trying to get Draco's attention.

The platinum blonde haired boy turned to look at Alem curiously.

"Have... you seen (Y/N)?" Alem asked, fidgeting on his seat.

Draco paused for moment to take a look at his worried face before shaking his head sideways.

"No, I haven't." He replied which caused Alem's shoulder to drop and his worried expression growing deeper and deeper every second.

"But," Draco started, which caused Alem to jerk their head up to look at the platinum blonde haired boy.

"They had a fight with Weasley over there a while ago if that helps. Maybe one of the Gryffindors know where they went." Draco glanced over at Ron, who was talking to Harry while eating some Halloween candies from the Gryffindor table.

Alem's eyebrow cocked in confusion as he heard Draco say those words.

"They got into a fight? What for?" He asked, leaning closer towards his fellow Slytherin.

Draco paused for a moment, suddenly remembering how hurt (Y/N) looked when they walked past him.

Another fire of anger was about to ignite in his mind but he tried to keep in under control since he didn't want to get expelled so quickly by killing Ron right then and there.

But if there weren't any damn rules, Draco would've attacked the Weasley right now.

Draco rolled his eyes while huffing angrily and rested his head on his palm.

"Weasley said something bad about Rosewood. That's all I know, to be honest." He shrugged and grabbed a lollipop from a basket full of candies.

Alem narrowed his eyes and slightly slammed his open book on the table as he climbed out of his seat and stomped his way towards the Gryffindor table where Ron sat.

As the youngest Rosewood was nearing his way towards the table, specifically Ron, Harry nudged his friend's sleeve to grab his attention and looked up at Alem with a slightly uncomfortable face.

"Hey, Weasley." Before Ron could pick up what Harry was hinting at, Alem already spoke up to grab Ron's attention which made the red haired Gryffindor turn to look at the owner of the voice.

Neville, who had heard and realized Alem's voice and features, gulped and looked away since he probably knows how this is going to end.

Both Gryffindors, who gave their attention to the (H/C) haired Slytherin behind them, was speechless since they didn't want to cause a trouble.

Not in front of Dumbledore and the whole Great Hall, for Merlin's sake.

Alem paused, thinking about what he was going to say or ask next to the Gryffindors.

Now, he was slightly pissed off per say but he wasn't going to lose his cool and pick a fight.

He's not an idiot.

"Where's (Y/N)?" He asked flatly, his narrowed eyes glaring through Ron's soul.

The red haired boy gulped slightly and turned to look at his raven haired friend beside him, wondering how he should answer the Slytherin's question.

Because he didn't know.

And it's obvious that Alem knows about what happened between him and (Y/N) a while ago (even though Alem doesn't know anything that much)

Neville heard Alem's question which caused his shoulders to rise.

He pursed his lips and wondered if he should tell Alem about (Y/N)'s whereabouts but he was asking Ron, not him.

Should he?

"Um..." Ron stuttered, not knowing what to answer.

Neville, upon hearing Ron's stuttering, turned to look at Alem which caught the Slytherin's attention but he still kept his glare at Ron.

"E-Excuse me?" Neville said, slightly raising his hand up to make Alem turn to look at him.

Alem turned away from Ron and transfixed his gaze towards Neville instead.

The annoyance and impatience that Alem's glare had made Neville flinch slightly but he stood his ground and spoke up to tell Alem about his sister/brother's whereabouts.

"P-Parvati said that she saw (Y/N) enter the girl's bathroom shortly after Hermione went inside. She said that they were probably there all afternoon, crying..." Neville answered, looking away from Alem's scary glare.

The Slytherin's eyes narrowed harder when Neville said that (Y/N) was in the bathroom with Hermione, crying all afternoon.

He turned to look at Ron with the hardest death glare he could ever produce with his (E/C) eyes and was about to cause a scene but he stopped himself since this was the Great Hall and he knows that he isn't the type to lose his temper suddenly.

Alem wasn't mad at Harry though he was skeptical about him since he was obviously with Ron when the fight between him and (Y/N) happened.

Oh, but no one makes his twin sibling cry and got away with it so easily.

Especially on their favorite holiday.

Ron felt relieved that Neville was the one to answer Alem's question but immediately felt uncomfortable again once he saw how hard Alem's glare was.

Just as Alem was about to open his mouth to say something, the Great Hall's large doors busted open with a shouting and terrified Professor Quirrell running at the center of the hall.

"Troll! Troll! In the dungeon!" He shouted, his voice echoing around the now silent Great Hall. Everyone's attention was on the DADA teacher.

Professor Quirrell stopped running and looked at Dumbledore and the other professors who stood up from their seat, staring at Professor Quirrell.

"...Thought you wanna know." He said as his eyes rolled at the back of his head and collapsed down to the floor.

Silence engulfed the entire Great Hall that it started to scare Alem.

All eyes were on Professor Quirrell's collapsed body until a thunder rumbled through the night sky on the Great Hall's ceiling.

Everyone started to scream out of fear and terror, due to the fact that there was an actual mountain troll inside the castle.

"O-Ow!" Alem felt himself being pushed around by students who got out of their seats and was panicking and screaming around like a bunch of little children.

He even felt his stomach being nudged painfully in every side as he was being pushed around by a sea of screaming children.

**"Silence!"**

Dumbledore's booming loud voice echoed around the Great Hall, overlapping the screams of the students and causing everyone's screaming voices to die down instantaneously and stop running around in panic.

"Now," Dumbledore began, his voice back to normal.

"Prefects will lead their houses back to their common room in a tight, secure line. No students are allowed to step outside of their common room until it is safe to do so." Dumbledore stated, eyeing every single one of the students.

"All professors, please follow me." He said once more as he walked away from the table and Professor McGonagall following behind him.

Everyone started chattering and mumbling quietly as the overlapping voices of the prefects telling their houses to follow them started to fill everyone's ears.

"Come on, now. Follow me." Percy Weasley, the prefect of the Gryffindor house, beckoned for his housemates to follow him as the Gryffindors filed out of the Great Hall along with the other houses.

Alem turned to look at the Slytherin table, where everyone was already starting to file out of the Great Hall as well.

The youngest Rosewood pursed his lips in conflict.

His sister/brother is still out there and they could be in grave danger if a mountain troll is currently roaming the castle.

How did a troll get inside the castle in the first place, anyway?

He knows where (Y/N) is but seeing that everyone needs to go to their common room immediately made Alem feel conflicted about his decisions.

"Mr. Rosewood?" Alem flinched at the familiar voice of the school's headmaster.

The Slytherin turned around, facing Dumbledore and the other professors who looked at him in confusion.

"Why aren't you with your house?" Dumbledore asked.

"F-Forgive me, sir... It's just that..." Alem looked away in worry for his older sister/brother.

"(Y/N) is still out there and they don't know that a troll is currently roaming the castle..." He answered the headmaster's question and feel tears threatening to spill out of his (E/C) eyes.

"I... I just think that they're in danger and... and..." Alem started to stutter but held his tears and his wobbled voice in so he wouldn't embarrass himself in front of Dumbledore and the other professors, especially Snape.

Wait,

Professor Snape's not with them.

But Alem was too sad to even notice or care at this point.

Dumbledore placed a comforting hand on the youngest Rosewood's shoulder as he looked through Alem's sad (E/C) eyes beneath his half-moon spectacles.

"Don't worry, Mr. Rosewood. We'll be able to find Mr/Ms. Rosewood before the troll gets them." Dumbledore assured him and retracted his hand away from Alem's shoulder.

"Do you, perhaps, know where they are?" The headmaster asked as Alem gave him a thankful smile.

"Yes, professor." The youngest Rosewood replied with a nod.

"Longbottom and uh... Parvati said that Granger and (Y/N) was last seen in the girl's bathroom." Alem recalled Neville's words and told Dumbledore and the other professors about their whereabouts.

The Hogwarts headmaster felt curious as Alem said those words.

"Miss Granger is with them?" He asked but Alem simply blinked and slightly shrugged, indicating that he wasn't sure about it since he doesn't really know anything.

"According to Longbottom and Parvati, yes." Alem nodded again to answer Dumbledore's question.

The Headmaster turned to look at Professor McGonagall and nodded, sending her some sort of message.

The other professors, except Professor McGonagall, who had gotten the hint, filed out of the Great Hall to spread out and look for the troll in different parts of the castle by themselves.

The Gryffindor head turned her heels around to face the spot where Professor Quirrell had fainted but grew confused when she didn't see him sprawled across the floor.

_When did he regain his consciousness and leave?_

Professor McGonagall asked herself but chose to put it aside as she was given a task to retrieve (Y/N) and Hermione from the girl's bathroom.

"There's no need to fear anymore, Mr. Rosewood. You may return back to your common room and Professor McGonagall will make sure that the two will be escorted back to their common rooms safely." Dumbledore smiled to reassure Alem however, Alem wasn't satisfied and still felt worry for his sibling.

Yes, Alem trusts Dumbledore; he's one of the most powerful wizards to ever exist and the only one who can rival the dark lord himself.

But he can never assume (Y/N)'s safety if he's not there to witness it.

He's _that_ anxious and worried for his older sister/brother.

As he bit his lip, Alem nodded solemnly and bowed down slightly to both bid farewell and give Dumbledore his gratitude.

"Thank you, professor." Is all what Alem said before walking out of the Great Hall in a fast pace and slightly narrowed eyes.

He couldn't guarantee (Y/N)'s safety until he finds them and that's what he's going to do; find the older Rosewood twin and give them an earful of scolding.

And there's also Hermione, whom Alem had a little bit of interest in after seeing how well she casts her spells and how calm she seems.

He had to find those two. After all, a mountain troll entering the school grounds by its own is highly unlikely.

 _"Mountain trolls can't be this smart."_ Alem thought, turning into a corner.

In the distance, he can see a line of students who're walking back to their common rooms with their house prefect leading them.

Alem grumbled and kept walking towards the girl's lavatory.

"This is either a setup or a cruel prank by someone." His shoes clicked in every step he takes in the stoned floor.

"Either way, this just means that (Y/N) is in trouble. I need to find them." Alem shook his head and quickened his pace, determined to find his sibling and won't go back to the Slytherin common room without them.

Not on their favorite holiday.

»»----- ♡ -----««

"(Y/N)..." I heard my name being called my a faint distant voice that resembled just like Hermione's.

My eyes fluttered open and I was starting to adjust myself to the sudden bright light in the lavatory.

"Mnh..." I grumbled as I felt my head being pushed away gently from her shoulder.

"What is it, Mione?" My lazy, dozed off tone echoed in the seemingly empty lavatory.

Hermione stood up and took a step over my body, reaching out to the stall's door and pushing it open.

"I feel like something's... odd." As Hermione stated that, I fully opened my eyes and just realized that the troll will enter the bathroom at any moment.

"Hermione," I quickly stood up and tried to pull Hermione back to the stall to hide from the troll but my tiny, short arm couldn't reach her wrist and she fully stepped out of the stall, wiping her eyes from the tears she had shed a few hours ago.

"Oh fuck." I clicked my tongue and swore under my breath, stepping out of the stall as well while preparing myself mentally.

It didn't take us long to realize a large, burly shadow is towering over us and intimidating set of breaths can be heard in the once silent lavatory.

I glanced up and saw the mountain troll, gnarling and gripping his large wooden mace on his hand as if he was ready to smash us down to the ground at any second.

Hermione must've seen it too since she is already starting to take a step back while grabbing my hand.

I turned to look at her then at my hand that she held, finding her gesture weird but I didn't complain or anything.

"Come on!" Hermione screamed and pulled us back in the stall where we stayed.

We crouched down with our hands held above our heads as if we were doing an earthquake drill or something.

The troll growled loudly and swung his mace over at the top of the stalls, ripping their wooden walls and exposing us, crouching down as Hermione screamed while I tried to stay calm and silent.

"Hermione, go underneath the sinks!" I pointed towards the sinks and pulled my own wand out, pointing it at the large mountain troll with my eyes narrowed.

Hermione did what I told her to, gripping at the pipes that held underneath the sink.

The troll glanced over at Hermione and raised his mace up in the air again, attempting to hit the sink where the female Gryffindor hid.

I clicked my tongue, taking a step towards the monster.

"Don't you dare touch her!" I shouted and at once, the mountain troll stopped.

It glanced at me with a softened gaze and I was surprised.

It followed me, just like that?

His mace is still raised up in the air along with his arm, making it very well known that he could still attempt to hit Hermione if he wanted to.

It was then when I heard sets of footsteps entering the girl's bathroom.

"Merlin's beard." I heard a hushed nervous tone. I assume that it's Ron.

"Hermione!" Harry exclaimed, he probably didn't see me standing in front of the troll just yet.

The troll snapped out of its daze and roared as I took a step back with my wand still pointed towards it.

"Go and help (Y/N)!" Hermione exclaimed and then I felt two pairs of eyes looking at my nervous figure.

"What're they doing here?" Harry asked, pulling his wand out of his robe as well.

I had the urge to roll my eyes and answer his question sarcastically but since this is a life and death situation, I don't have time to answer Harry's idiocy.

"Bombarda!" I cast, a loud exploding sound of the troll's body being hit echoed around the nearly destroyed lavatory.

Will my knowledge for Harry Potter spells really help me this time? I'm still a first year and it might not work because it's too advanced!

The troll roared in pain, taking a step back but it wasn't enough to let him drop his mace.

"That was brilliant." I heard Harry breathe out and I unconsciously smile, pulling my wand away and I can feel myself growing tired since I just conjured a spell that I wasn't supposed to cast yet this year.

As the troll had regained its balance, it moved towards me and I immediately panicked.

"Aguamenti!" My wand shoots out small jets of water towards the troll and I can see that it's not doing any significant damage at all.

Curse my weakness.

The troll pushed through the jets of water since I couldn't keep up with the magic as I started to feel tired and grabbed me with its large calloused hand.

"Put me down!" I exclaimed, punching his knuckles even though I know that it's not going to work.

"Hey, put her down!" As I looked down, Harry and Ron picked up some random rubble on the ground and threw them at the troll.

The monster didn't pay attention and tried to shield me from the throwing rocks, using his own large hand.

Damn, this troll is acting very weird.

With one last push, even though I am feeling very tired right now, I gave out one last spell.

"Incendio!" I exclaimed and everything went silent as a small puff of fire is sparking lightly at the tip of my wand.

I internally panicked and cried, a huge blush of embarrassment tinting my cheeks.

"Bloody hell!" I screamed, hiding my face with my hands as the fire had run out in my wand.

Is this what happens when you're too tired to use magic spells or maybe I'm just too weak right now.

Argh, this is so embarrassing!

"Relashio." I heard a familiar calm yet stoic voice at the doorway.

In an instant, I've been released from the troll and I fell down to the rubble filled ground with a thud.

"Ouch!" I groaned, sitting up and hissing as I felt the throbbing pain.

"(Y/N)!" Hermione exclaimed, coming out of her hiding spot and ran towards my side, helping me stand up.

I smiled at the Gryffindor girl and turned to look at the doorway to see who could've helped me.

My smile slightly faded when I saw Alem's glinting (E/C) eyes narrowed towards the troll who held me just a while ago.

The troll held his hand, wincing slightly in pain and turning his large body towards my brother, who kept his pointy glare at the troll.

"Incarcerous." He said and a handful of ropes sprouted from the floor, wrapping itself around the troll's body and binding him down.

The mountain troll roared as he tripped, his body pinned to the floor with the ropes around him.

His mace sat right next to his body and the mountain troll is clearly trying to make any attempts of getting it back to himself.

"Don't put your filthy hands all over my sister/brother, you foul beast." Alem growled in a hushed tone, his eyes glinting more than ever in a sinister way.

We all flinched at his sudden change of behavior that we all stayed quiet and didn't question anything.

Alem's gaze softened into a worried one when he saw my figure standing right next to Hermione. 

"You're hurt." He stated, walking towards me while placing his wand inside his robe pocket.

I blinked and then realized that I felt a throbbing pain in my arms and I my forehead. I raised my hand towards my forehead and felt a warm, sticky liquid.

I blinked again and realized that it's blood. I laughed sheepishly and waved my hand, reassuring my brother.

"I'm fine. I don't actually feel anything at all." I said while Alem seemed like he didn't buy any of what I said.

I actually do feel very tired and everything in my body hurts like hell.

He placed his hands all over my arms and my shoulder.

"Really, Alem. I'm oka--" Once he managed to press into an injured spot in my arm, I winced and hissed while taking a step back from him.

Alem yelped and retracted his hand away.

"Im sorry, I didn't realize I was hurting you." He frowned and leaned closer to my face. I blinked until he lifted his hand up to my nose and flicked it.

"What in the bloody hell was that for!?" I exclaimed, rubbing the tip of my nose.

Alem's eyes narrowed once more as he crossed his arms and gave me a scowling face.

"Mind telling me why you're out here for the rest of the afternoon with Granger?"

»»----- ♡ -----««

Ron's posture straightened to which Hermione had noticed and gave her fellow Gryffindor a look of skepticism.

Harry looked away, slightly sweat dropping and hoping that they could all leave the girl's lavatory without any commotion.

Suddenly, the mountain troll had roared loudly and attempted to escape itself from the ropes that Alem had conjured.

Everyone took a step back from the troll's body and looked at it warily.

Alem's first instinct was to grab (Y/N)'s hand and move them behind him just in case the troll does anything to his sister/brother again.

Hermione pursed her lips until he glanced over at Ron, who held his wand shakily.

Seeing as Ron is the only one who's holding a wand right now, Hermione shouted out to the red haired boy.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" She exclaimed at Ron.

The boy had realized and understood what Hermione meant but he slightly shook his head since he felt like he it might not work like in Charms class.

"You can do it." Hermione's cheeks were lightly dusted in pink as she nodded.

Ron's lips were parted and since this responsibility is held on to him, he pointed his wand at the mace that the troll is attempting to get and did the swish and flick motion.

"Wingardium Leviosa." Ron said and this time, the mace had been lifted up to the air and the troll shockingly stared at his floating mace.

The red haired boy was shocked and kept the mace floating until it was above the troll's head.

He disarmed the spell and the top of the mace had hit the troll's head. The mountain troll's groaned in pain until he fell face first to the floor. The mace bouncing out of his head as he did so.

(Y/N) crouched down and grabbed a rubble, throwing it at the troll to see if there would be any reaction from it.

But when the rubble had hit its eye, nothing happened.

"Is it dead?" Hermione took a step closer to the troll cautiously.

"No, it's just knocked out." Harry said and after that, everyone gave off a sigh of relief until another set of footsteps entered the girl's lavatory and a horrified and surprised gasp had left someone's mouth.

"Oh my goodness!" Professor McGonagall placed her hand on her chest and then glanced over at the five of us, eyes narrowing every second.

"Explain this, all five of you!" She demanded and the five looked at each other, not knowing how to respond to the head of the Gryffindor house.

Professor Snape and Professor Quirrell also stood behind Professor McGonagall, shocked when they saw the troll immobilized and knocked out.

"Well, you see professor-" (Y/N) started an attempt to create a reason until Hermione held their hand and stepped forward, gently backing them down.

"It was me, Professor." She cut (Y/N) off.

The three professors glanced at Hermione and Professor McGonagall looked more shocked than the other two which (Y/N) thought was funny.

"Miss Granger?" Professor McGonagall called out, almost in disbelief that the most diligent Gryffindor that she knows in here house would be the reason why this mess had happened.

"I went looking for the troll. I'd read about them and thought I could handle it." Hermione stated, glancing over at the Rosewood twins, (Y/N) specifically.

"But I was wrong." She returned her attention back to the head of the Gryffindor house, feeling nervous for the upcoming punishment after she finishes her explanation.

"If (Y/N), their twin brother, Harry and Ron hadn't found me," She lowered her head down in shame and Alem felt slightly offended that she didn't know what his name was.

(Y/N), who had noticed Alem's look, chuckled silently but it wasn't noticed by Alem himself.

"I'd probably be dead." She finished off, raising her head up to meet Professor McGonagall's disapproving glare.

"Why were you with her, Miss/Mr Rosewood?" She glanced over at (Y/N), who flinched at the sudden attention that she's getting.

(Y/N) gulped and tried to think of any explanation for the head.

"I... I saw Hermione walking around the hallways so I followed her and we ended up here in the girl's lavatory, I argued why encountering a troll is extremely dangerous for a first year to fight until..." They glanced over at Harry and Ron for a while before turning their attention back to McGonagall.

"The troll appeared in the bathroom itself." (Y/N) finished explaining their part and although Professor Snape seemed skeptical, he hadn't said anything.

Professor McGonagall, who only really cared about the safety of the students, sighed deeply while rubbing the bridge of her nose.

"Be that as it may, it was an extremely foolish thing to do, Miss Granger." She commented at the brown haired Gryffindor who pursed her lips in shame as she is getting criticized by the head of her own house.

It was then Harry's eyes travelled around Professor Snape's bloodied leg, slightly surprised and wondering why he was injured.

The head of the Slytherin house had noticed Harry's eyes on his leg and immediately covered it up, glaring at the raven haired boy as he looked away from Harry.

"And you, Miss/Mr Rosewood," McGonagall turned her head towards the startled (Y/N) who started to fidget with their fingers.

"You know better than to be out here when something dangerous is walking around the castle." They slightly laugh nervously since they didn't know how to react to McGonagall's words.

"This is not a laughing matter, Miss/Mr Rosewood." The sharp tone from the head of the Gryffindor house immediately made (Y/N)'s smile disappear.

They softly apologize while looking away, unable to face the older witch.

"I would have expected a more rational behavior on your parts, you two." McGonagall commented, eyeing the two students who have conducted misbehavior on this Halloween night.

"Five points will be taken from each of your houses for serious lack of judgement." Everyone frowned since no one likes having points deducted from their houses.

(Y/N) silently whimpered but they blinked as they felt their hand being held by Alem, gripping it tightly as an act of reassurance.

They glance over at Alem, who didn't look back at them.

(Y/N) smiled and gripped his hand tightly as well, indicating that they understand what Alem is trying to do and they're very thankful about it.

"As for you three gentlemen," McGonagall addresses Alem, Harry and Ron.

The three boys gave their attention to the Gryffindor head, expecting another earful of scolding from her.

"I just hope you know how fortunate you are." She started as Alem pursed his lips as he wasn't used to getting scolded by someone. He doesn't like it.

"Not many students could take on a full grown mountain troll and live to tell the tale." It was that moment where Alem had realized something about the mountain troll.

The same question that he had in his mind before he entered the girl's bathroom.

How did a mountain troll enter the school anyway?

"5 points," The three boys frowned deeply, expecting another point deduction from each of their houses. Alem sighed, knowing that this was to be expected.

"Will be awarded to each of you." Everyone's eyes lit up in happiness. Alem's specifically as the three boys looked to each other with a smile on their faces.

"For sheer dumb luck." McGonagall turned around and was about to leave the five students in the bathroom until Alem stepped forward but didn't released his hand away from his sister/brother.

"Oh, Professor McGonagall." He called out to the head.

McGonagall turned around and faced Alem, her eyebrow raised in curiosity as to why the Rosewood boy had called out to her.

"Yes, Mr Rosewood?" She asked, her hands held in front of her.

"This is probably none of my business but," The younger Rosewood started as he looked over to the troll who laid here unconscious.

"I believe that the troll didn't enter the castle by accident." He said, which caught (Y/N)'s attention.

They were surprised because they didn't expect him to be suspicious and know things so easily.

"There's a high chance that this must be a setup by someone." Alem's eyes glinted once more and his eyes glinting usually means that he's not joking or showing any trace of positive reaction on his face.

He's very serious.

Even the professors could know that just from his aura and that he is a very capable wizard.

The other students with him flinched slightly since their first instinct when they see a serious Alem is to run.

"Of course, this is only my speculation. There aren't any proof to support this." His look softened eventually, smiling to lighten up the tense mood that Alem brought in the lavatory.

"Even if it is, it's still something that we should consider." McGonagall nodded, taking Alem's speculation into account.

Alem nodded back in acknowledgement and took a step back, smiling at his sister/brother who still held his hand as an act of reassurance.

(Y/N) smiled back nervously and mentally noted to themselves to never bring out Alem's serious self if they don't want to die.

Eventually, Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape walked away from the lavatory in order to report to the headmaster himself about what happened and that (Y/N) and Hermione are safe although Alem hadn't listened to their orders of going back to the Slytherin common room.

"Perhaps you ought to go," The only professor left spoke up, smiling at the five students from the doorway.

"M-Might wake up." He added with a nervous chuckle.

The Gryffindors nodded to each other and were the first to walk out of the girl's bathroom.

The Rosewood twins were still standing in the bathroom, holding hands since they still don't feel safe and they could use some comfort in each other's hands.

"Let's go." Alem smiled gently at his sister/brother and dragged them out of the bathroom, (Y/N) following after him shortly.

As the twins passed by Professor Quirrell, (Y/N) gave him a hard narrowed glare to which Quirrell returned with a scowl.

"...yrros mi... meht hcta cot delia fi" (Y/N) faintly heard the troll say something and they turned around, confused. Professor Quirrell no longer stood at the doorway which made them assume that he must've entered the bathroom, facing the troll who's clearly under his control.

" _What the fuck did that troll just say?"_ They asked to themselves, trying to make sense of their weird language.

Instead of wallowing themselves in an impossible question, they shook their head and focused on their brother who is still dragging them back to the Slytherin common room.

 _"Geez, he acts more of the older sibling than me sometimes."_ Even though (Y/N) probably said that to themselves way too many times, they could never get tired of saying it.

It's true, after all.

»»----- ♡ -----««

"What are we doing here, Alem?" I monotonously ask my brother, who sat at the edge of an empty white bed while I sat on a high stool next to Madam Pomfrey's desk full of unknown potions and herbs. 

"You're injured." Alem answered my question, his face scrunching up as if I just asked him something stupid. 

I sighed deeply, tilting my head to the side and thinking if my brother is just taking this thing way too seriously when he doesn't have to. 

I mean, I've been injured countless of times before and it's normal for people to get injured. I've gotten used to just sit it out and place some cloth in it until blood stops seeping out of it. 

"You really didn't have to bring me here; I can just wipe this blood off with saliva." I shrugged, raising my hand and feeling my fingertips gently pressing the sensitive part of the wound I've gotten. 

Alem scrunched his face up again, cringing at my words with his arms crossed. 

"That's disgusting." He simply said with a sigh but I laughed at his reaction because the way he scrunched his face up because he was cringing was hilarious in its own way. 

It was at that moment where Madam Pomfrey walked towards us with some dark blue bubbling potion held on her hand. 

I've never tried drinking potions before so I don't know what they would taste like except Polyjuice Potion; I am aware that it tastes bad. 

"Here, drink this, Miss/Mr Rosewood." Madam Pomfrey hands me the potion that she held in her hand and before I could drink it, I examined the potion for a little while. 

"What's this potion?" I asked, shaking it lightly and it created a small bubbly reaction. 

"That's a Murtlap Essence, it should help you with your cuts and injuries." The mediwitch informed, making me hum in amazement. 

I'm still worried about the taste of it though. 

"And this," I looked up to see what Madam Pomfrey has in store for me next. "Is a Blood Replenishing Potion. I suggest you take this first before that one." She said as she stared at my still bloodied forehead. 

I can see the expression of cringe on her face and it made me think that I probably lost a lot of blood, which is why I need to take it. 

"Honestly, Miss/Mr Rosewood, you seem to be getting involved with a lot of life threatening situations with Mr. Potter and his friends." She sighed as she hands me the second potion that she pulled out from her pocket. 

I snort and gently uncapped the blood replenishing potion. 

"It's not like I'm doing it intentionally; it's always me who manages to get into life threatening situations." I tipped the contents of the blood replenishing potion and my face scrunched up in disgust since it tastes so metallic, like I'm drinking a glass of blood. 

I guess it's really living up to its name. 

"Ugh, that's a disaster." I choked out before gagging a little bit. Salazar, this is making me think that all potions taste very bad. 

I gently placed the empty container on Madam Pomfrey's desk while coughing and trying to remove the taste from my mouth by swallowing the accumulated saliva. 

"And I have to be the one to look out for you. Seriously, (Y/N), I don't want to keep worrying about you but this is the result if I don't." Alem grumbled, grabbing some random towel that he found on Madam Pomfrey's desk and rubbing it around my forehead to remove the blood that's coming out of my wound. 

He's careful enough to not actually press the towel on my wound so that's a relief. 

"I didn't ask you to look out for me, Alem. I can do things by myself." Rolling my eyes, I uncapped the Murtlap Essence and took a huge deep breath before drinking its contents. I made sure to drink it as fast as possible so the taste won't stick in my tongue, unlike the first one. 

"And if I'm not here to look out for you, who will? You weren't even able to immobilize that troll. If it wasn't for me coming in, you would've been eaten or worse, killed." He exclaimed, his rubbing becoming more aggressive the more he talks. 

I clicked my tongue, also feeling annoyed and angry at Alem. Salazar, he doesn't trust me to look out for myself? 

Tch, what does he even know? 

"Wow, what do you want, a trophy?" I scoff and I could feel the effects of the Murtlap Essence kicking in. I feel like my wounds are closing in and are returning back to their original state. 

I couldn't even feel the bad taste that the potion has because of the wounds closing in. It's distracting me. 

"(Y/N), please. I just want you to be more careful from now on." Alem's concerned tone and worried face made me silent for a while. 

I can't make any promises for my brother but I can tell that he really cares about me. 

I sigh and gave him a small defeated smile as I placed my hand on top of his. 

"I understand. I'm sorry." I apologize, my smile widening as I see Alem smiling back at the. I just realized that Alem looks a lot like me when he's smiling, like we are the same person. 

Well, we are twins after all. 

"Now, head on back to your common room. It is almost time for curfew." Madam Pomfrey also smiled down at us. 

I hopped out of the high stool, stretching with a moan escaping my lips. Finally, I've been wanting to stretch since I fell down out of that troll's hand. 

Alem placed the towel that the borrowed back to the desk. It doesn't have that much blood in it since the blood replenishing potion must've sucked most of my blood near my wound back in. 

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey." Alem bowed down, showing his gratitude to the mediwitch. 

"Anytime, Mr Rosewood." She nodded her head towards Alem. 

I felt his hand circling mine once more and I couldn't help but feel happy and another gentle smile curling up on my lips. 

At least Alem's making me feel like I'm not alone in this world. As we walked out of the infirmary, we swung our intertwined hands in rhythm. 

I had the urge to hum and sing a song but I felt like it's unneeded since Alem is already having fun humming his own song and I want to hear it without my voice interrupting him. 

In the empty, lit hallways, we were together and since it's Halloween, I want to celebrate it with him since it's our favorite holiday after all. 

I don't want to let him down and I want to surprise him as soon as we get back to the common room anyway. 

I didn't have anything prepared but it's more fun if we built our own pillow fort together. 

"Hey, Alem." I call out to him, still swinging our arms from side to side. 

"Hmm?" He hummed, saying that I have his attention. 

"When we get back to our room, let's build a pillow fort." I grin and we both stopped as soon as Alem did, giving me a look of surprise. 

He didn't expect me to ask such question, did he? 

"You mean it?" He asked, a smile forming on his lips and widening every second. I nodded while chuckling at his childish reaction. 

"Of course I do, it's our holiday after all!" It's my turn to drag him to the common room. With our hands intertwined, we laughed as we walked back to our common room through the empty hallways. 

»»----- ♡ -----««

"And he got shot by that scientist who's also looking for that girl who escaped the lab!" (Y/N) exclaimed, lighting up their face with their flashlight from their chin. 

Alem rolled his eyes, adjusting his crossed legs to relieve them since they've been stuck in e same position for too long. 

Alem also crossed his arms with his eyebrow raised skeptically towards his sister/brother, questioning (Y/N)'s way of telling scary stories in a Halloween night. 

"That's actually quite pitiful and sad in a way." He remarked while (Y/N)'s shoulders slumped, pouting sadly at their brother as they dropped the flashlight down to the comfy green covers of the bed. 

"You're not taking my story as if it's scary..." Alem scoffed at (Y/N)'s words with a smirk, adjusting himself once more; letting his leg spread out and the other leg bending with his arm resting on his knee. 

"I don't think anyone would. I mean, the girl is an escapee right? That man who works for the diner makes her food and is very nice to her even though she hadn't told him what she really is and what does he get?" He asked and (Y/N) realized that the story that they got from season one of Stranger a Things isn't really working out, is it. 

"By getting shot." He answered for himself. 

"It's one of the reasons why I don't, ever, act kind to just... anyone because just because you've done a good deed doesn't mean that something good will come back to you. Sometimes it'll just backfire and you'll end up getting the downfall instead." Alem sighed, laying down at the bed and reaching out to the blanket ceiling above their heads. 

The pillow fort looks like it could crumble down at any second since their pillow fort isn't really well made. Looks like a budget version of pillow forts to be honest. 

Since the twins couldn't find any Christmas lights to decorate their fort, they gave up and didn't put anything. (Y/N) can't just sneak into a storage room either and they doubt that they have any Christmas lights that use electricity instead of magic. 

"I guess you're right." (Y/N) agreed after pondering about their brother's words for a while and then laying down next to him. The twins looked up to the blanket that's covering the bed and pondered over their own thoughts, the silence between the two almost comforting in its own weird way.

(Y/N) thought about Alem's words just now; sometimes, acting kind could be your downfall especially if you don't know who you're showing your kindness at. It's not that (Y/N) has always been sincere to other people, they barely show any of that in their real life anyway but they've always been stuck with their morals that their mother often told them; be kind wherever you are or whoever you're dealing with.

But they've abandoned that thought the more they grow older, facing the cruel realities of life. (Y/N) never showed any form of sincerity if they weren't treated the same way and it's no exception when it comes to life itself.

The (H/C) haired girl/boy sighs through their nose, realizing that the story swapping game is still on. "Hey, it's your turn to-" They turn to look at Alem, who's already fast asleep with his eyes closed and his mouth slightly parted. (Y/N) could hear the soft snores coming from him and chuckled, grabbing a blanket from the edge of the bed and covering their brother's sleeping figure.

"Good night, brother." They whispered and slid the curtains to the side, crawling out of their bed so they can remove any blankets that they used to make the budget pillow fort so they wouldn't have to worry about removing them tomorrow morning.

As (Y/N) stepped out, they were greeted by the door opening with the sound of creaking almost echoing the now silent room that they were staying in. Stepping inside the room was Draco Malfoy, wearing his pajamas with his slightly damped platinum blonde hair. It looks like he just took a bath a little while ago.

Things became awkward once more when (Y/N) cleared their throat nervously but said no word as they started to remove the blankets that's covering Alem's bed. Draco didn't say or move either, he's just watching them do their own thing until he thought that this thing is going on for way too long.

Sure, he was able to refrain himself from talking to the (H/C) haired girl/boy for months but you wouldn't know how much he just wanted to kneel in front of them and ask them to forgive him throughout these past few months.

Since he got the idea that almost everyone is asleep, well, except the two of them, he's taking this chance to talk to (Y/N) and hopefully, resolve this matter.

"Are you alright?" He initiated and (Y/N) visibly flinched as they heard him start a conversation. Draco frowned at this, thinking that they're still tense around the platinum blonde haired boy.

(Y/N) cleared their throat again but spared no glance for Draco, still not wanting to look him in the eye when it's just the two of them. 

"Y-Yeah, I am. Madam Pomfrey gave me some potions so my injuries will be healed and Alem was there too so, y'know." They shrugged since they didn't know what to say anymore as they folded a blanket and placed it to the side, specifically on Alem's chest luggage. Draco's eyebrow rose up, always noticing that the way they talk is strange as if they're foreign. It doesn't sound British and is more of a different dialect, if you know what he means.

But that's not what he came for anyway.

"I told you hanging out with Potter and his friends will get you in trouble, one way or another." Draco tried to crack up a small joke but at the same time, he said it as if he was serious with his warnings. (Y/N), who thought that Draco was mocking them for their poor judgement, rolled their eyes and sighed.

"There's nothing wrong with being friends with-"

"I'm sorry." He cut them off which caught (Y/N) by surprise and stopped pulling the blankets out. They turned to look at him, finally meeting eyes with Draco's.

"Pardon?" (Y/N) blinked, not sure if they had heard it right. Draco sighed, not wanting to repeat himself for the second time since it annoys him but he has quite a tolerance for (Y/N). "Look, what I did to you a few months or was it a few weeks ago," He pondered before shaking his head, realizing that he's getting off topic.

"That's not my point. What I meant to say was; I acted out of my own and I'm sure I must've made you uncomfortable. I must've been aggressive and I didn't blame you when you pointed your wand towards me because I was, indeed, being weird." Draco frowned, he wasn't used to apologizing to other people before. As a Malfoy, he always has a great pride that apologizing is nowhere to be found in his vocabulary.

He'd die than apologizing to other people since he feels like what he did was justified and right.

Then there's (Y/N), who's unintentionally breaking that code for him.

"And acting like a creep." (Y/N) nodded and Draco rolled his eyes but felt shame running through his spine. He played with his fingers for a moment since he doesn't know what to say anymore. What do you even say when you're apologizing? the Malfoy heir thought to himself as he silently panicked, the atmosphere in the room slowly becoming awkward once more.

"I don't want to end this year when I feel bad about something." Draco internally cringed, his choice of words making him feel confused. (Y/N), though, understands what he's trying to say and mean. Because of this, (Y/N) laughs.

It's been a while since (Y/N) had a conversation with Draco and this is what he comes up with after a few months of avoidance. Well technically, it's (Y/N) who's avoiding him.

"Your apology really makes it hard for me to think about it, Malfoy. Have you ever apologized to anyone before?" They chuckle as Draco's face turned red and his shoulders rising, pointing an accusing look at the oldest Rosewood twin in front of him.

"Oh shut it, Rosewood! So what if I haven't apologized to anyone before!?" He admitted, his blush only growing deeper as (Y/N) laughed even louder but not to the point that they end up waking their roommates and their brother.

Draco internally facepalmed, wondering why he even likes them in the first place.

"Apology accepted, Draco." They smiled when they've finally calmed down. Their smile faded as fast as it came, immediately turning the atmosphere into a serious one. "I also owe you an apology; telling you to stay away from me and all that. I haven't been able to explain to you why I've been acting like that and honestly, it's a little personal and I'm not ready to tell you the full story yet." (Y/N) turned around and continued doing their work, pulling another blanket and folding it into a neat square.

"But, when I was younger, I..." Their movements slowed and their (E/C) eyes showed that they were reminiscing something that they didn't want to remember. (Y/N)'s eyes flashed back to their normal glow before their movements fastened again, placing the blanket to the side and stacking it with the other blankets.

"I didn't really have a good relationship with some grown men along with my..." (Y/N) thought about their words for a moment before continuing. "...step father." They chuckled again, thinking if telling Draco that their real father is their 'step father'. 

I mean, if they have a father in this world, he couldn't be as bad as their real father, could he?

"You doing that... leaning closer to me... thing triggered some bad memories related to those men." Since they felt too uncomfortable saying what really happened to them, (Y/N) prayed and hoped that Draco would use his intuition and understand what they're trying to say without having to actually be upfront about it.

Answering to their prayers, Draco's eyes widened and gasped lightly. He opened his mouth to ask (Y/N) but immediately closed it since, like they said, it's personal and it's up to (Y/N) how much they want to share without the other person inquiring about it.

"I see..." Draco mumbled. Everything was silent for a while until Draco started to walk towards the (H/C) haired girl/boy, who had a look of confusion as he kept walking towards them. Without any hesitation from the boy, he hugged them tightly to ease any of those repressed memories that surfaced from their mind.

"I'm sorry." He apologized briefly and although (Y/N) looked shocked from Draco's sudden hug, they smile softly and returned the hug, burying their face on Draco's shoulder since the boy is taller than them. "What are you apologizing for, you idiot?" (Y/N) chuckled and released themselves from the hug, looking up to Draco with a side gentle smile.

The Malfoy heir blushed and his heart throbbed inside his chest as he faced (Y/N) doing that adorable smile. He felt a short rush of happiness flowing through his body when he realized that the conflict between them is finally over. He can finally talk to them again and he won't have to just glance at them with those sad silver eyes of his.

As the two had their own staring contest, a whistle came from the doorway. The two turned their heads to the source of the whistle and was surprised to see a tall smirking Slytherin student, possibly no older than a 3rd year, peeking through the doorway.

"I can see that the first years are already having a relationship!" The student laughed, fully revealing himself at the doorway. (Y/N) couldn't recognize him so they were confused and at the same time, very creeped out as to why this student is randomly peeking through their doorway plus assuming that they and Draco have some sort of a relationship,

even though they're obviously 11 year olds.

"and it's none other than the older... or are you possibly the youngest Rosewood twin," He pondered, tapping his finger on his chin before glancing over at the blank faced Draco Malfoy, ready to hex the student that dared to intervene their moment. "and Draco Malfoy himself!" The student finished, making another mischievous smirk. For some reason, (Y/N) is reminded of the Weasley twins when he does that except the twins do it better than this invading prick over here.

"Well, enjoy it while it lasts! Young love doesn't last forever!" The boy laughed as he skipped away with his hands on the back of his head. Draco and (Y/N) stared at the empty doorway for a moment, wondering what the fuck just happened.

"Draco, why didn't you close the door?"

"I know, I can be forgetful sometimes."

**»»----- ♡ -----««**

**A/N:**

**If you managed to get here and finish this chapter, I am very very proud of you. You deserve a Liquid Luck.**

**Anywaaaay, p** **hew! Longest chapter in this book so far by the time I'm writing this!**

**You wanna know how many words this chapter has?**   
**16,342 :)**

**So I hope you enjoyed reading all of that and you can probably notice that I was already tired writing this chapter because of the crappy writing at the ends of the chapter. But hey, at least I managed to fit the Halloween scenes in one chapter with a little bit of my story so that's wonderful, I guess.**

**By the way, please tell me how the story is going so far. Is it bad, is it good, is it neither of those lmao. I love to read those types of comments too 'cause I get to improve something in the story. Don't tell me that Draco is very OOC though, because I am fully aware of that.**

**It's hARD TO WRITE A SINGULAR YANDERE WHEN THERE ARE GOING TO BE A SHIT TON OF THEM IN THE FUTURE, YOU KNOW.**

**Also, by the time of me writing this, we have reached 10k reads! Can you believe that because I can't. I didn't even expect this book to have people wanting me to write more about it anyway but I already planned a bunch of stuff and for the ending of the book so :V**

**Thanks for 10k reads people! You guys are the best! The next chapter is probably gonna be less longer but if you want longer chapters like this one then tell me and I'll do it lmao I don't mind.**


	12. I - XI:「A Quidditch Player's Friend」

**❝You don't need anyone else but me, right?** **❞**

**»»————- ♡ ————-««**

After that somewhat awkward conversation with Draco and I, I'd been able to talk to him frequently instead of looking away from him whenever I pass him by.

It feels like a huge ton of weight has been lifted off of my shoulders but then again, I feel somewhat... fearful for telling Draco about what happened to my past.

Though I didn't reveal much, it still makes me scared whenever I flash back to that Halloween night when I told the platinum blonde haired boy about it.

I'm probably scared because he might use that against me and start to cause a huge commotion.

I know Malfoy; he can do that if he wanted to.

Is this because I don't trust him yet? I don't blame my mind; I've been transported in this world without any recollection of my real life or how I even got here through a dream.

Trusting anyone so easily would be my downfall.

I sighed as I wrote another sentence in my parchment with my head rested in the palm of my hand.

My other hand held a red feathered quill, gently writing the words I'm reciting in my mind to finish the sentence.

We've been assigned to write a reflection letter about what spells and lessons we've covered in Charms so far.

I guess it's to see if anyone listens to Professor Flitwick during his classes and glancing over at the Gryffindor table sort of makes it clear that some of them didn't.

"Hey, Rosewood!" I heard a somewhat manly voice call. I turned my head around groggily to see who called for me but just as I turned my head around, the boy who called for my name is already standing in front of me which caused me to slightly lean back in surprise.

I looked up and saw one of the Slytherin's Quidditch team Chaser, Adrian Pucey, looking down at me with a small smirk etched on his thin lips.

"What do you want, Pucey?" I groaned, the tiredness from doing assignments completely taking over my body.

I didn't have time to fuck around with other people; I just want to get over this assignment already and get some rest.

For some reason, the Chaser keeps teasing me about always being with Draco, thinking that there's something between the two of us, even though we're still 11 years old and we're only friends and that I seem to be somewhat 'friendly' with the Gryffindors, specifically Harry and Hermione.

I can't really tell if he's also one of the Slytherins who despise muggleborns, blood traitors and muggles but his reaction with mentioning the two Gryffindors confirmed that he doesn't really mind that much although he did give me a look of skepticism and a slight look of discomfort when I said that I do hang out with them often.

He was that third year boy who called us out a few nights ago, when Draco and I were hugging in the common room.

The fucker couldn't mind his own business and started to nag me about this entire thing and now he's starting to piss me off.

If Pucey is going to pull some funny shit on me, I'm going to hex him without any hesitation.

"Hey, that's not how you talk to your big brother!" Pucey laughed and patted my back roughly.

I coughed lightly from the force of his pat and I immediately swatted his hand away from my back.

I'm really really pissed right now and I wouldn't mind giving this Slytherin an injury or two even if he's two years older than me.

"And who are you to address yourself as my brother?" I rolled my eyes and turned away from him to continue my assignment.

Pucey laughed once more before placing his hand on my right shoulder, which made a tick appear on my forehead.

"Oh for Merlin's sake, can you _please_ stop bothering me while I'm doing my work!?" I snapped my head towards the boy and almost slammed my quill against the table.

Pucey looked a bit surprised at my sudden outburst but that same stupid smirk made its way to his face again and I can tell that what he's going to say next is going to piss me off.

"Whoops, sorry! I guess you're in that time of the month, eh?" He chuckled. I narrowed my eyes in anger and tightened my fists before raising them to punch him wherever until he spoke up as if he knew what I was going to say.

"Speaking of your brother, where is he anyway?" He crossed his arms, looking around the Slytherin table for any signs of my brother.

"I've been looking for him." I raised my eyebrow in confusion at his words. What does he need Alem for?

"May I ask why you're looking for him?" I asked skeptically at the older Slytherin.

"I just need his help with something. I heard the other Rosewood has an aptitude for Charms and his knowledge is just what I need to pass this little requirement that Flitwick wants me to do." Pucey grinned as if there was nothing wrong with what he just said.

I just scoffed and continued to do my work.

It's his fault for failing his class so why should I have to help him?

"Alem is busy and he'd appreciate it if you wouldn't bother him while he's doing his _own_ assignments." I emphasized the 'own', hoping that the older Slytherin would get the hint that Alem wouldn't want someone to bother him right now while he's doing something.

I know how incredibly focused and serious my little brother is when he's doing school work and if Pucey wants to ask some help from him while he's doing that, he's not going to get it.

And neither is he going to get it from me.

Besides, I don't think Alem even knows who the hell this boy is to help him pass.

"Oh come on, sis/bro. I just really need his help! I promise I'll make it up to you by bringing you something from Hogsmeade!" He pathetically yet amusingly pleaded even though it's obvious that it's just an act to lighten up the mood and get me to tell him where Alem is.

But his offer doesn't sound too bad; I've always wanted to try something in Honeydukes and I haven't gotten the chance to get something from the trolley in the train to experience, at least, one wizard candy so this is a good opportunity.

"Fine, you'll bring me Sugar Quills, Chocoballs, Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans, Chocolate Wands and Fizzing Whizzbees." I listed out monotonously while the older Slytherin just looked at me, slightly surprised at my large list of candies from Honeydukes.

Eventually, Pucey smirked then chuckled, obviously finding my list of demands from him amusing.

"Are those the emergency things that you need while you're on your—"

"One more word and this deal between us is over. Also, if you won't bring me at least one of the things I've demanded, I'll tell Professor Flitwick that you asked my brother to do _your_ project." I spoke, smiling up at Pucey who frowned at my threat.

"Hey, I just asked him for _help_." He emphasized the 'help' but I rolled my eyes and scoff.

"Oh come on; we both know that your idea of 'asking for help', in school work, is the same as making them do the work for you." I gently tapped the tip of my quill inside the inkwell before writing another boring sentence I made up in my head just to extend this reflection letter.

I'm too tired to write a complicated set of words to make it look all fancy and smart as if I've understood everything.

"Besides, you're asking him for 'help' because the Quidditch games are coming up tomorrow and you have no time to do any of that, right?" I glance up at Pucey for a moment, who looked amused, before continuing to do my work.

"And this is what I like about you, Rosewood; you're extremely perceptive." He laughed. "And smart as well! Are you sure that the hat didn't consider to put you in Ravenclaw?"

"I mean, it sort of did. I guess I was just placed here because I'm not _that_ smart enough for Ravenclaw." I shrugged at Pucey's question.

I didn't think much about the sorting when I came here since all of my memories were lost so I just went with whatever the heck the hat wanted to put me in.

I do remember that Alem said that I've always wanted to be in Ravenclaw but just as my idiotic self said to themselves after knowing what the Ravenclaw house is all about, I don't think I'm that resourceful and smart to be in that house.

So I guess that doubt is what led me to Slytherin instead because my mind wanted to settle in a house where I could show my intelligence and use it for my own benefit.

"Yes, I can see that." Pucey laughed and I turned to look at him with an annoyed look, his words making me feel somewhat offended.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" I asked, my eyes narrowing but Pucey simply chuckled before shrugging, indicating that he's going to change the subject.

"Anyway, we have a deal. I'll get you what you want, in return, you tell me where your brother is _and_ if he refuses, you have to convince him to do it." He smirked and I scoffed at his extra condition.

"So you really were going to make him do it all by himself?" I mumbled with a sigh.

"I said I'd only _tell you_ where he is. I'm not going to convince him to do your project. If he refuses, then _you_ have to be the one to convince him, not me." I stated, before turning away from him and turning the cap of the inkwell close and placing it inside my bag.

"Oh come on, if he refuses then I'm the one who's at loss here since all you have to do is tell me where in the world your brother is while I'm going to do a whole shopping spree for you at Honeydukes." He frowned, watching me pack all my things from the table.

"Can't you, at least, be fair with this?" Pucey added as I sling my bag over my shoulder while thinking over his words.

Well, it is kind of unfair but either he goes with what I want or I don't help him at all.

My conscience trailed to his sad face and with a little bit of thought and a heated debate between my pride and my humility, I sighed and growled at Pucey.

"You better score, at least, 5 in the game tomorrow." I add another condition that will ensure Pucey's project to be saved.

The older Slytherin nodded with a smug grin, happy at my condition. Confident, even.

"Oh, don't worry, Rosewood; I am one of the best Chasers in Hogwarts. If you want, I'll score a hundred by myself to assure Slytherin's victory." He confidently exaggerated but I rolled my eyes and walked away from him, not wanting to hear any more of my upperclassman's words.

"Don't be too confident, Pucey. Things won't always be what you seem." I foreshadowed slightly about Harry's catch of the golden snitch in his first game.

I do know that Gryffindor will win the game tomorrow but I guess I could encourage my fellow house to do their best as well.

After all, this is my house although foreshadowing Harry's victory doesn't seem to be the best way to encourage one of the house's chasers.

"Did you take a look into the future with your seer powers or something?" Pucey laughed and I stopped walking, cringing at the rumors that everyone is still spreading and believing 'till this day.

"You must be incredibly stupid to think that I have that kind of power. Also, who spread that rumor in the first place? It's nothing but rubbish." Stress and anger mixed themselves in my tone and in my words as I faced Pucey, disregarding what he just said.

Psh, what is politeness when you're stressed and deadlines are coming up? No time for any kindness, mister.

As I walked away from Pucey before he could say anything, I could see Blaise Zabini staring at me with hardened eyes as if he wasn't so fond of me from the distance.

I don't really know much about Zabini but all I know is that he doesn't like muggleborns and muggles.

Or more like, he despises them.

This theory was supported after I heard him talking to Draco and his gang about muggleborns, how there are so many of them this year, how many of them keep their numbers up every year and why they were given the opportunity to be here in Hogwarts.

Geez, he's like, the other embodiment of Salazar Slytherin but only less dangerous.

I only threw him a look of curiosity after I thought that he was already staring at me for too long. Like, lowkey asking him, "the hell are you looking at?"

He looked away and continued with his work as I kept walking my way towards the doors of the Great Hall then head myself towards the library to look for Alem since he's more likely to do his work in a place where everything is peaceful and quiet.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

As Draco watched (Y/N) walk out of the Great Hall, he glanced back at Adrian Pucey smiling to himself, who also watched the (H/C) haired Slytherin walk away.

The chaser seemed to amuse himself by talking to the oldest Rosewood twin.

Although they were younger than him, he felt like they seemed to be older than what they look like.

Their thoughts, the way they talk and how they move seemed to be that of an adult.

Like they were only living inside a child's body.

But Adrian pushed the thought away and said to himself that maybe (Y/N) is just really mature for their age.

He doesn't have the time to indulge himself in such pointless thoughts since he has Quidditch to think about and the game between Slytherin and Gryffindor is fast approaching.

His little talk with the oldest Rosewood twin was only to make himself laugh and entertain himself due to all of the work that's been piled in his desk and he needed a break.

At least they unloaded some of his work by letting their brother to their Charms project for himself which was good.

The platinum blonde haired boy only glared at Adrian for being able to talk to (Y/N) even though they just met a few nights earlier.

How insolent of him.

Judging from their conversation, Draco immediately jumped into the conclusion that Adrian is simply using (Y/N) for his selfish needs and Draco, who has this false delusion that (Y/N) is in need of protection from such people, wanted to get Adrian away from (Y/N).

He can't bear to see them get hurt over and over again. Not after they showed how much they've suffered in their past although Draco doesn't know much about it.

He has to make sure of that. He has to make sure that they will only depend on him and him alone.

Just as his dark thoughts were beginning to surface, a nudge from his arm snapped him out of his thoughts which slightly startled him but also annoyed him.

Draco turned beside him to see Pansy Parkinson frowning slightly and her right hand slightly shivering, indicating that she was looking sort of scared.

"What?" He asked coldly at the dark haired Slytherin girl. Pansy gulped for a moment before she turned to look at Adrian,who was happily chatting with some of his fellow teammates. 

"You were glaring angrily at Pucey for the last few seconds and it was starting to scare me. Did he do something wrong to you?" Pansy asked in concern for Draco's well being.

It's quite obvious that the girl really liked the platinum blonde haired boy so much that if Draco answered yes to his question, Pansy would confront the Chaser in a heartbeat.

"...nothing." Draco answered Pansy, who looked unconvinced but decided to not push him any further.

The Malfoy heir sighed silently, still eyeing that third year chaser on their house's Quidditch team.

Adrian is now talking to Marcus Flint, captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team, possibly talking about some strategies that they could use in the game tomorrow.

While Adrian does feel a pair of eyes piercing right through the side of his head, he didn't look around to see where it came from.

He scoffed at the thought, blaming his overactive imagination.

As the platinum blonde haired Slytherin glanced away from Adrian, he noticed that the next class is about to start.

The next class will have Slytherin partnered up with Hufflepuffs which is one of the worst class partnership ever.

Draco sighed at this, packing his things up and then walking out of the Great Hall.

He left his so called 'friends' behind but it's for the best since he wanted some time alone to think and some time alone to let his dark thoughts resurface.

**ᴴᵉ ⁱˢ ᵘˢⁱⁿᵍ ᵗʰᵉᵐ ᵗᵒ ᵍᵉᵗ ʷʰᵃᵗ ʰᵉ ʷᵃⁿᵗˢ**

His silver eyes darkened and his gaze was lowered down to the floor until they returned back to normal as he shook his head in disbelief of himself.

His ears automatically tuned out any external noises and all he could hear is the buzzing, frustrating yet familiar sound that his mind is creating, almost replicating the inner staticky and messed up mind of the Malfoy heir.

The curse is seeping inside his soul, eating any rational thoughts that he has and replacing them with irrational and obsessive thoughts for the (H/C) haired girl/boy.

Every time he doubts himself for acting this way, the echoing distant sound of (Y/N)'s singing voice can be heard as if it was an auditory hallucination and then pulling him back to the abyss of his thoughts when he gains negative emotions for (Y/N).

Yet the victim didn't understand why he felt this way for them. He surely saw no redeeming qualities in them.

Besides, their families are not in good terms; they are supposed to hate each other.

So why have the tables turned?

 _"No, Draco. This is just a simple... crush."_ He admitted his crush for his supposed enemy and felt embarrassed about it.

Oh if his father can see him now, he would be very disappointed in him for acting so vulnerable and weak.

 _"There's nothing wrong with having a crush. It's what it is; nothing more, nothing less."_ Draco took small deep breaths repeatedly as an act of self-reassurance.

He smiles nervously, gripping the handle of his luxurious school bag that his father bought for him.

 _"I'm sure, after a few weeks or so, this will all disappear and everything will be back to normal."_ He kept mumbling to himself and trying to pull himself together because he is a Malfoy and Malfoys cannot be overtaken by simple, petty emotions like love.

They are one of the best pureblood families in the wizarding world and they take pride in that.

 _"Of course, I can't possibly keep this crush up with that blood traitor. They're nothing compared to me."_ Draco started to panic while trying to reassure himself, turning to a corner in the hallway.

As he kept mumbling, he hadn't realized that he's about to walk into someone else.

As the two made impact, Draco groaned and held his head.

Annoyance and frustration bubbled inside him as he looked up to see who had to come and add another layer of annoyance in their day.

To his surprise, Cedric Diggory stood there and was unfazed by Draco bumping into him.

I mean, what could a small 11 year old body do to a 14 year old's?

The Slytherin boy's silver eyes flicked in anger when he realized that Cedric was the one who (Y/N) had, somewhat, an interest in.

Their blushing face and the way they stared at him that day made his stomach turn and it's making him think about what this feeling is.

Great, just when he was about to reassure himself that everything related to (Y/N) will surely disappear sometime, the guy that (Y/N) probably has a crush on shows up and ruins his day.

Cedric sweat dropped and took one step back with a nervous smile. From his perspective, he can sense that Draco does not like him one bit and the way he looks up to him with such narrowed, glinting eyes only supports that.

Looking between an 11 year old and a 14 year old only makes Draco look like an angry kitten compared to a confused grown cat.

"What's with that look, Malfoy?" The Hufflepuff hesitated to ask, not because he was bothered by it but because he found it amusing that a Slytherin looks so pissed at someone who hasn't really done anything wrong.

Draco clicked his tongue and just passed through Cedric, not wanting to spare him a word or even spare another glance at his pretty little face.

He could see why (Y/N) and a bunch of students have a crush on him; he has the most handsome face in the entire castle.

Which made Draco think,

_Is he not good looking?_

"Oh right, Malfoy. I want to ask you something." Cedric called out before Draco could fully disappear into the distance in the hallway.

The Slytherin cursed underneath his breath and turned around with a scowl.

"You must really like wasting other people's time." Draco crossed his arms while Cedric only laughed at what he just said.

His insult had no effect on him whatsoever, making Draco think that he must be a tolerating type of person.

Well, as expected of Hufflepuffs.

"Do you know (Y/N) Rosewood?" Cedric asks, curiosity visible in his eyes meanwhile Draco's stomach flipped when he heard the Hufflepuff ask a question that's related to the one who he's trying to get over with right now.

"We're literally in the same house and is quite talked a lot by other students, how can I not know who they are?" Draco rolled his eyes and began to question Cedric's intelligence as if he is in a higher position than the handsome boy in front of him.

Cedric laughed again, paying no need to Draco's rudeness since he won't really gain any benefit if he does.

"Do you, perhaps, know anything about them?" Draco's eyebrow cocked up, curious as to why Cedric is suddenly asking things about (Y/N).

Before he could answer Cedric by saying no, the Hufflepuff spoke up first and cutting him off.

"I've heard your families are quite close with each other." Cedric added so Draco could not deny anything or say that he doesn't know anything, at least one thing, about them.

Draco clicked his tongue and turned around, trying to avoid his question.

"That's none of your business; keep your nose away from things that don't concern you." Cedric frowned as he watched Draco walk away from him. He seemed like he didn't want to share anything about (Y/N).

Seeing that Cedric can't do anything but scratch the back of his head, he continued walking towards his supposed destination while thinking about the Slytherin boy's weird yet rude attitude.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

"You did **what!?** " Alem shrieked as we walked towards our next class. Some students who were passing us by gave us weird looks before moving on with their day.

I managed to fetch Alem from the library without minding Madam Pince's stern glare at the back of my head.

Does she seriously think that I'm a loud type of person?

As I pulled Alem away for our next class, I nervously told him everything about Pucey's 'request' and the hardened glare that he shot towards me as I kept talking reached its climax when I told him that I accepted Pucey's request of letting Alem do his project.

"I had to! He was going to get me something from Honeydukes and I couldn't resist!" I tried to defend myself, looking away guiltily from my brother who's already hiding his face in his hands out of pure stress and contemplation.

"Besides, this is a pretty secure and fair deal so there's nothing to worry about." I crack a broken grin, trying to lighten up the mood.

Please don't let Alem's serious self come out and try to kill me, I don't want to die just yet.

"Fair? **Fair!?** " He shrieked again, lifting his face away from the palms of his hands and giving me such an angry look.

"I'm literally going to do all the work for that third year stalker bloke that you just met while you get Honeydukes candies! That chaser is a Quidditch player, he can just score five points in a matter of seconds!" Alem lists out the problem in this little deal that I just made.

Now that Alem mentioned it, it is really unfair for Alem and I never thought about that.

"I am not going to do this. You were aware that I have a lot of work to do and that essay that Professor Snape gave us a few days ago is not even finished yet! The deadline is _tomorrow_ , (Y/N)! I can't just add another pile in my work list from someone who I don't know!" He sighs in frustration and then facepalming himself, stress clearly visible on his features.

I bite my lip and looked down to the ground, feeling quite ashamed of myself for suddenly pushing this work on him when I was, indeed, aware that he has a lot to do.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think clearly when I made that stupid deal." I apologized with a small voice.

"Clearly." Alem sighed once more and my frown deepened when he said that.

There was a moment of silence from the two of us until I spoke up.

"I'm going to do it instead. I'm the one who made the deal after all." I hold my forehead, sighing with my brother and then regretting this burden I placed upon myself.

Ah, (Y/N), still stupid as ever.

"I'll help you with researching but that's it. You will do the rest of the writing." Alem, being the good brother that he is gave me a defeated smile and my eyes watered in happiness as if I'm about to cry.

"You are, literally, the best brother in the whole world." I nod approvingly while placing an arm on his shoulder.

My twin rolled his eyes and removed my hand away from his shoulder.

"Just because I'm helping, doesn't mean I've forgiven you for accepting that stupid deal. Look what you got yourself into." Alem enters the classroom and I didn't reply to his words.

Instead, I scanned the classroom to see if Cedric is here since we're going to share the class with the Hufflepuffs.

To my disappointment and realization, Cedric isn't here and he wouldn't be here because he's a fourth year and this class is, specifically, only for first years.

Damn you, self for expecting him to be here.

"Oh? Were you looking for that Hufflepuff boy you saw a few months ago?" Alem peered into my face with a mischievous smirk on his face.

I blush slightly and turned away from him with an angry pout.

"N-No I'm not! I was just looking for some seats!" I strongly denied Alem's question but my stuttering made it hard for him to believe.

I am cringing at myself for acting like a cliche tsundere.

"His name is Cedric Diggory, by the way. You're welcome." Alem laughs and goes off on his own to find our own seats.

I pouted again while quickly glancing over at the Hufflepuffs to see if they're listening to our weird conversation and followed beside him, crossing my arms and trying to act all tough.

"I already knew what his name is but thank you." I said as I take my seat with Alem in the Slytherin side of the classroom or whatever the hell that means.

"You _are_ a stalker." He laughed jokingly and I playfully hit his arm, glancing once more at the Hufflepuffs before turning to look at Alem, who's still laughing at my reaction.

It wasn't until I noticed Draco silently sitting behind Alem, his head resting gently on his hand but his eyes and mind were drifting somewhere far away.

Honestly, I didn't even notice him sitting behind Alem when we sat here. I guess we were too absorbed in our topic about Cedric that we didn't see him sitting there.

I tilt my head to the side and poked his arm, trying to get his attention.

"Draco." I call out for his name and Alem looked at me skeptically.

I bet he's going to ask me why we are calling each other by our first names and are communicating again normally.

Draco lifted his eyes up to meet mine and the glow in his silver eyes returned, making me feel relieved.

"Class is about to start." I sent him a gentle smile and I could've sworn I saw color rushing up to his face when I did. I shoved that thought away and told myself that it's just my eyes.

All what Draco did was nod and I found that weird but I didn't question anything and turned around to face the front of the classroom.

Alem nudged my arm and giving me the look of, "well are you gonna tell me something?"

I rolled my eyes and took out my books instead.

I honestly don't get why Alem doesn't like Draco. I mean, I'm pretty sure that we have a family rivalry but since we're at Hogwarts, couldn't he stop for a moment and think that Draco is not that bad?

At least he's not some sort of a stalker like Pucey.

"Good afternoon, class." The teacher greeted and I sigh, ready to start the class with my resting dead face.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

It was almost time for nighttime but at the same time, not really. It's like, 4 PM, currently.

I look up to the sky that's starting to turn into a blueish hue before turning head towards Hermione and Ron, who are sitting right beside me.

We're currently in the courtyard, deciding to take a little bit of a breather before we go to the Great Hall and eat dinner.

The Gryffindor common room must be very busy at this kind of hour.

"Harry, do you really have to read that?" Hermione questioned me, glancing over at the book I borrowed from the library.

It's called " _Quidditch Through the Ages_ ". I couldn't help myself since tomorrow is the game and I've got to do a little bit of research.

"Quidditch is a game of skill. I don't think you'll gain any information about winning the game by reading that." Hermione added while I roll my eyes and ignored her.

She always has a tendency to ruin the mood and question my decisions. I've got my first game tomorrow so I can't mess it up.

"Leave him be, Hermione. He just wants to do a some research, that's all." Ron comes to my defense and I inwardly thanked my red haired friend.

At least someone understands the anxiety I'm going through.

Hermione sighs, tilting her head slightly to the side.

She didn't say anything and she didn't really have to.

As I was about to flip the next page, a shadow towered on top of us and blocking the sunlight and in the process, interrupting me as well.

As I looked up to see who had some business with us, my stomach dropped when I saw Snape standing right in front of me and looking down on me with the same, deadpanned face.

It's extremely hard to tell what he's thinking; his eyes don't even tell me because they look somewhat empty as if he has lost something important in his life.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Potter." He greeted and I was starting to get uncomfortable.

I didn't know what to say to him.

I looked away for a moment, glancing at Hermione and Ron to help me before quickly returning back to face Snape.

"Good afternoon, sir...?" My greeting came out more as a question, to be honest.

His eyes trailed down to the book I'm reading before trailing them back to my eyes.

"What are you doing with that book, Mr. Potter?" He asked and I shot him a confusing glare, my face scrunching up.

Can't he tell that I'm reading it? What else do you do with a book?

"...Reading it?" I shrug, throwing a little bit of a shade for the Potions professor.

He narrowed his eyes slightly until he extends his hand out in front of me and I stared at it for a second before looking back up to his face.

"Hand it over." He said, speaking quite slowly.

I blinked in surprise and annoyance.

Does he really think I'm doing something weird by reading this book? It's just about Quidditch.

"Why?" I asked him, wanting to know why he wants to take it away even though I'm not doing anything wrong.

In the corner of my eye, I can tell that Hermione and Ron also looks surprised and annoyed that Snape is taking this book away from me.

"Library books cannot be taken outside, Mr. Potter. Surely, you must know that." He explained in a flimsy pretext.

I narrowed my eyes again in confusion, that's a rubbish excuse; I borrowed this.

"I borrowed the book. Surely, you must know that a borrowed book can be taken anywhere and not just in the library." His glare hardened when I told him that but I'm not gonna hand it over. It's just unfair.

"10 points from Gryffindor for your cheek, Mr. Potter." He said, not feeling any guilt for taking away 10 points from my house because of a rubbish excuse.

I growled under my breath as I felt anger coursing through my veins.

"Now, I won't ask again. **Hand it over**." Snape's warning tone made me silent but I hesitatingly closed the book and handed it over to the Potions teacher.

I was pouting angrily and I could've sworn I saw a small smirk of victory spreading across his lips.

As he walked away, I clicked my tongue and started to rip out some grass just to relieve my stress.

"That was so unfair! He shouldn't have confiscated it!" Ron exclaimed angrily, staring at Snape's retreating form in the distance.

Hermione nodded in agreement, frowning as well.

"What are you going to do, Harry?" Hermione asks and honestly, I have no other choice but to take it back.

If Madam Pince found out that I've 'lost' the book that I borrowed, I am going to get in so much trouble.

With a sigh, I stand up while grabbing my bag and slinging it over my shoulder.

"I'll get it back after I return my stuff back in the common room." I look up to the sky and it seems like evening is already starting to sink in.

I'm hungry but I can't go to the Great Hall while carrying my heavy bag.

Thanks to all of the schoolwork, it feels like my bag is carrying a bunch of rocks instead of books.

"Alright. We'll head on to the Great Hall, Harry." Hermione stands up as well and dusted off any dirt in her Gryffindor robe before crouching down and grabbing her bag as well. Ron followed suit, slinging his bag over his shoulder just like mine.

"Got it." I nodded as we both walk to our own separate ways.

I'm still pissed off and annoyed at Snape for confiscating my book for a rubbish reason.

I borrowed the book so I can take it anywhere I want as long as I return it before the due date.

While I was muttering some words underneath by breath, I saw the Rosewood twins talking to each other side by side in the other hallway.

I always see them together but I guess that's twins for you. George and Fred are also inseparable.

During that Halloween night, Alem stepped in and saved (Y/N) from that troll.

He must be very strong if he could immobilize a troll like that.

(Y/N) is very strong as well but their problem is their stamina as they immediately felt tired after casting two advanced spells.

Then again, it's advanced so what did I expect?

The way that the twins take care of each other makes me want to have a brother or even a sister who I could look after and they would look after me as well.

I've always been alone in my entire life and I could say, for sure, that Hogwarts changed all of that.

The only 'family' I have left are the Dursleys but I don't even consider them as my actual family.

Not after treating me like crap and lying to me about my parents' death and what I actually am; a wizard.

So I thought, as I walked towards the Gryffindor common room that;

It must be nice, having a sibling who you could rely on and all that.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

"Ugh." I groaned, dropping my face to the Potions and Charms book in front of me.

I'm so close to crying just to relieve some stress but I immediately lifted my head up again to prevent myself from letting tears come out of my eyes.

"I hate him." I was referring to Pucey. I frowned while writing with my red quill and glancing over at the Potions book for reference.

I swear, this essay is probably gonna score so badly because I don't have Alem to help me and I suck at doing schoolwork.

Geez, I escaped into this world to have some fun but I'm still chained by schoolwork wherever I go.

This is torture and the noises of students chattering in the Great Hall is not helping.

It's just adding more fuel to my headache.

I sigh and placed my hand on my forehead while keeping a wide eyed look at the parchment, trying to stay awake and to not get lazy at doing this essay since tomorrow is the damn deadline. 

After this, I'm going to do my Charms project along with Pucey's, that little cunt.

"(Y/N)," I heard a feminine voice calling behind me. I internally screeched because I don't want anyone to bother me right now, not while I'm stressing into doing this goddamn essay.

"I am slowly dying, everything is torture _and_ I need to finish this essay without any delay. Good evening, random person and please tell me what you want immediately." I turned around, frowning deeply while keeping up a very tired tone of voice.

I think even my face looks so haggard.

Hermione stood there, paralyzed. She smiled nervously, keeping her brown eyes on my surprised yet tired figure before taking a step back shakily as if she is so afraid of me.

"Hermione, no! I'm sorry! I'm just very tired; I didn't mean to scare you!" I exclaimed, also panicking because Hermione might start to stay away from me.

She frowns in concern, taking a step towards me while taking a peek at my pile of books, two opened books in Potions and Charms and a roll of parchment, still unfinished.

"I was about to ask you if you could come to our table for a while but if you're busy, we can just talk tomorrow." She smiles nervously with a shrug.

With that, my body felt awake as I stood up almost instantaneously.

"Yeah, sure. I can come." I nod with a smile. Hermione's smile softened when she saw that I'm finally back to my normal enthusiastic self.

Not that I'm always enthusiastic though.

I turned around and faced Draco, who's sitting right across me. For some reason, I notice that Draco always sits near to me.

I don't know if it's just a coincidence but it's just weird.

"Hey, Draco. Could you take care of my stuff for a while?" He looked up and glanced over at the girl behind me.

I could see a little bit of resentment on his face but they immediately softened and returned back to his normal bored look.

"I could." Draco nodded and I smile at him appreciatively, turning my attention back to Hermione and signaling her to lead the way.

"Hey, (Y/N). Is Malfoy always like that?" She asked, turning to look at me.

I hum confusingly, not understanding what Hermione is trying to say.

"What do you mean?" I ask the female Gryffindor. She placed her hands behind her back while looking up to the bewitched ceiling of the Great Hall.

"I mean, he always looks so angry and grumpy when he sees that someone is accompanying you. I'm sure you noticed the look that he had for me when he saw me standing behind you just a while ago." Hermione explained and I'm still confused.

I never really noticed Draco's attitude to other people before but I do know him well enough to know that he always acts like a prick to everyone else. I'm no exception.

But I can't deny, I did notice the odd aggressive look that he had for Hermione.

It could just be a coincidence since Draco clearly hates muggleborns and Gryffindors in general.

I shrug, placing my hands inside my pockets.

"I'm not so sure; he's always mean to everyone else so I don't think there's a problem. That's just how Draco is." I told her my opinion and although Hermione doesn't buy it, judging from the look on her face, I stood my ground and think that it's just Draco being Draco.

"Besides, he doesn't like Gryffindors _and_ muggleborns so I think that's why he gave you that... angry look." I added, in order to support my opinion.

Hermione hums understandingly and it seems like she somewhat agrees.

As soon as I reached the Gryffindor table, I was immediately greeted by two identical looking students popping up in my face.

I shrieked and jumped back, my heart thumping loudly because of that sudden surprise.

"You two, stop it! You're scaring them!" Hermione scolded at the two third year boys with her hands on her hips.

She's literally the second Mrs. Weasley if Mrs. Weasley is not around.

It took me a while to realize that it's just Fred and George, the mischievous Weasley twins.

Merlin, I'd completely forgotten about them but now that they're right in my face, I smile and laugh along with them.

The twins laughed, enjoying my scared reaction. "So you're the infamous (Y/N) Rosewood!" Fred spoke up, walking closer towards me.

Don't underestimate me, son; I've done enough research to know that you're Fred and the other one is George.

"I'm George, nice to meet you, Rosewood!" Fred, or as he calls himself 'George', introduced himself as he bowed down with his right hand on his chest, trying to act all formal and all that.

"That bloke over there is my brother, Fred." 'George' said, pointing to the real George behind him with his thumb.

The real George laughs and walks towards me until he's beside Fred. Real George rests his arm on Fred's shoulder and throws me a smirk.

"Here's a fun little test that you can answer, Rosewood." Real George said, his smirk widening as he looked at me as if he was trying to observe me and how I would act.

In the corner of my eye, Hermione sighs in annoyance and takes a step forward.

"Look boys, we're really busy so do you mind if-"

"Nuh-uh, Granger!" Fred, impersonating as George, smirks like his brother while waving his pointy finger.

Hermione silently groaned and I just chuckle, finding this scene quite amusing.

"We need to know if a Slytherin is cut out to sit in the Gryffindor table," Real George turns to look at Hermione, who's already having an annoyed look on her face.

"or if we can trust them enough to be our little friend!" Real Fred finishes real George's sentence, also looking at Hermione as he crossed his arms.

To be honest, I feel a little bit offended because of what they just said but it's just how they are so I shouldn't complain.

I don't think I've done anything that will make the Gryffindors trust me either. I mean, I had an argument with Ron so...

"So, little miss/mr seer." Real George started, putting the twins' attention back on me.

"Are your rumored powers enough to see which one of us is the real Fred and George?" Real Fred continues real George's words, grinning at my deadpan face since I already know who they are.

Being an obsessed Harry Potter fan is a blessing in this situation.

"Just to let you know, I'm not an actual seer or a clairvoyant or whatever you guys refer me as. If I was, I would've made some business here in Hogwarts for some fortune telling." I clear up some confirmation the twins while laughing, breaking my deadpan face, and waving my hand around.

The twins looked at each other for a while and then laughed as well.

"Fred, this Slytherin is quite funny." Real Fred said after he finished laughing.

"I agree, George. I like them already." Real George added and I feel flustered that the Weasley twins are, somewhat, complimenting me.

I turn to my side and see Hermione face palming and giving me an apologetic look. I gave her a nervous smile to tell her that I don't mind.

"So," Real George's voice made me look back at the twins, ready for whatever they're going to throw at my face. The Weasley twins leaned closer to me with their mischievous smirks as wide as ever.

"Can you tell which one of us are the real Fred and George?" Real Fred asks and finishes real George's question. I take one final good look at the Weasley twins with a smile, confirming my suspicions that they are, indeed, switched.

"You're Fred." I pointed towards the real Fred, who blinked in surprise when I started to speak up. 

"You're George." I pointed towards the real George, who also replicated the same surprised look that his twin brother has. 

I kept my smile and it widened when the twins looked at each other for a moment, seemingly talking to each other telepathically.

I mean, all twins do that right? Talking telepathically?

"How curious, Freddie." Real George, who finally revealed his true identity, gave me a smile of acknowledgement, releasing his arm from Fred's shoulder and placing his hands inside his pockets. 

"It seems like the little snake found out about our switch up." George continued. Fred nodded in agreement, tilting his head to the side and giving me a side smile.

"I'm impressed, Georgie; not everyone can guess correctly on their first try." As Fred said that, I turned to look at Hermione to see if she's still alive from all of that little game that the twins gave me. 

To my relief, the brown haired female is still there and she seemed to sigh in relief, probably because I was able to guess correctly and can finally take a seat at the Gryffindor table to talk.

"Alright, now that they did your little game or whatever, can we go now? We're really busy!" Hermione rushed out and grabbed my hand, intertwining it with her's. 

I blush softly since no one, except Alem, had held my hand before. How interesting of me to blush because a girl held my hand. 

Just shows how bleak my life is in the real world.

Before the twins could even answer Hermione's question, she already dragged me away from them. I was startled for a little bit since I didn't expect her to just drag me off like that. 

It's kinda rude to just stow away from a conversation.

"One final question, Rosewood." Fred's voice caused me turn back and halt Hermione to a stop. 

"Are we the better twins in the school?" George laughed and I stopped to think for a while before shooting them a mischievous smirk with my (E/C) eyes slightly narrowed.

"You wish; although I already like you two, Alem and I are easily the best twins in the school." The Weasley twins hummed softly understandingly. 

I'm pretty bias but eh, I gotta defend my bro every once in a while.

Once again, before the twins could say something about my bias ass, Hermione already dragged me away from them once more. 

She must really be impatient or just really annoyed that the twins keep standing in our way. This must be a pretty important issue if she has no time to joke around but then again, does Hermione even joke around?

I'm already guessing that this is something about Fluffy.

Well, time to act as if I don't know anything again.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

As the (H/C) haired girl/boy left the Slytherin table, Draco flicked his eyes over to their messy stuff. Few books are stacked to the side while two books, Potions and Charms, are left wide open beside the unfinished essay. Their red quill was left inserted inside the inkwell which slightly triggered Draco but he sighed deeply and tried to ignore it.

He was about to return his attention back to his own works but his eyes caught something shining because of the light in the Great Hall inside (Y/N) opened bag. 

Draco internally facepalmed, thinking why they had left their bag open when they were going somewhere. Well, he's going to look after their stuff but this stupidity is just over the charts.

In a closer look, Draco could see that the thing that was reflecting light is a small shiny lock. He tilted his head to the side, curious as to why (Y/N) has a lock inside their bag. 

As the platinum blonde haired boy stood up and tried to grab their bag from his seat with his short arms, he earned a curious and suspicious look from his seat mates.

"Hey, Malfoy. What are you doing with Rosewood's bag?" His right seat mate, Millicent Bulstrode, glanced over at (Y/N)'s opened bag and back at Draco for his reply. 

"They asked me to look after it." He briefly answered the girl, not wanting to talk to her any longer.

"Merlin, this is the perfect chance to see if they have any embarrassing stuff inside their bag!" Pansy exclaims excitedly, leaning closer to Draco while peering inside the Rosewood's opened bag. 

The platinum blonde haired boy grumbled silently, wanting to just shove Parkinson away from him for getting so close.

Before Pansy could grab anything from the bag, Draco pulled it away from her and discreetly grabbed the item where the lock is being inserted in as he did so. 

He made sure that he hid it underneath (Y/N)'s bag so they wouldn't be able to see anything.

"That's invading privacy, Parkinson." Draco told the dark haired girl, who frowned and seemed to disapprove of her crush's actions.

Pansy leaned away from Draco while crossing her arms. 

Although Draco could see that she didn't like what he had just done and said, he couldn't care less about what Pansy thinks. 

_She's nothing to him._

Pansy opened her mouth to speak and retaliate because of Draco's actions but she immediately kept them shut when she noticed how protective he holds (Y/N)'s bag; his grip on the sides of the bag is unusually tight and yet from the way his fingers are curled around it makes it look like he's comfortable holding it, even. 

The dark haired Slytherin girl bit her lip, anger and jealousy flooding through her mind as she began to think of (Y/N) and Draco talking cheerfully to each other with the possibility of them ending up with her crush.

She's not going to accept that.

"Dracy, you don't like Rosewood, do you?" She asked, her hair covering most of her eyes while Draco sweat dropped at Pansy's question. 

He fully knows that if he's being obvious about his little feelings for (Y/N), Pansy would immediately tell his father.

**ₜₕᵢₛ ᵢₛ ᵤₙfₐᵢᵣ**   
**ₜₕᵢₛ ᵢₛ ᵤₙfₐᵢᵣ**   
**ₜₕᵢₛ ᵢₛ ᵤₙfₐᵢᵣ**

"They're a blood traitor; a disgrace to the Sacred Twenty-Nine despite being a pureblood family for generations." Pansy added, a nervous yet fearful expression on her face.

Draco leaned away as he was starting to get creeped out of Pansy's unusual behavior. 

Sure, Pansy's family is also part of the Sacred Twenty-Nine but that doesn't give him a reason to like her just because she is.

He doesn't like her anyway.

"I don't. I'm only being friends with them b-because," He stuttered, thinking of a reasonable excuse to convince the dark haired Slytherin girl to not write a letter to his father and suspect him of anything.

"They're going to prove themselves useful once the time... comes." Draco lied but also felt guilt and shame for saying this.

He's making it sound like he's only using them although he really isn't.

He's not that kind of person when it comes to this.

Pansy, who was easily convinced, turned to look up at Draco with a huge smile and a happy glow shining on her eyes. 

"I knew it; that's one of the things that make you great, Draco." She grinned while Draco is already planning how to get rid of this guilt that's eating him up. 

He can't believe he just avoided trying to dig himself a hole by lying and partially bad mouthing (Y/N) even though they just made up with him a few nights ago.

 _"No, if they don't know... it's fine."_ He reassures himself as he felt his fingertips touching a rectangular object underneath (Y/N)'s bag, which is the item that he snatched out of the bag right after Pansy was trying to take a look inside.

Draco felt a cold, metallic object touch his fingers and it made a soft jingling sound which made him assume that it's the lock.

Judging from the rectangular shape, Draco thinks that this might be a diary.

He smiles deeply, taking this chance as a way of getting to know more about (Y/N) but it's fine, right?

Soon, this little crush of his will disappear and the information that he's gathered about (Y/N) will eventually become irrelevant to him and everything that's ever happened in his first year will appear as if nothing had really happened,

_right?_

»»————- ♡ ————-««

"I apologize, Potter but I don't think that Professor Snape is after that item you're talking about." I drowsily interfere with everyone's assumptions as to why Snape is the one who's trying to get past Fluffy, that three headed dog that we saw last month.

"And what makes you so sure?" Harry turns to look at me with narrowed eyes, completely hell bent on trying to prove me wrong.

Hermione and Ron seems to be convinced that the suspect is the head of the Slytherin house as well.

Can I blame them? Snape always has this deadpan attitude and he just embarrassed Harry on his first Potions class.

Not to mention that he's always mean to Gryffindors, specifically the golden trio. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that I'd believe them too.

"First of all, if you're after an item that's lying underneath a well-guarded trapdoor, don't you think that you should be more careful about being obvious to everyone? Especially on the appointed staff who specifically said that the third floor is forbidden?" I began, stirring my pumpkin juice and keeping my (E/C) eyes on the swirling colored water in the glass.

"Second of all, Snape has been in Hogwarts for a very long time. Not as long as Professor McGonagall, of course but you get my point. I am sure that Dumbledore trusts him enough that he's been appointed as the head of the Slytherin house and is also one of the staffs that are appointed to guard that trapdoor. I am assuming that because if what you said is true, Harry, about Flich tending to Snape's wound on the leg, Filch wouldn't have reported to Dumbledore that Snape was injured because of that dog." I added and then stopped stirring my juice, grabbing the glass and bringing it closer to my lips as I eyed all three of them, who started to look skeptical of what little information they have about this.

"If I have to give my thoughts on who's more likely to be the person who's doing all this," I place my glass down after I took a little sip from it.

"I'm betting my galleons on Professor Quirrell." When I said that, I could see Ron doing a little scoff but I pretended as if I hadn't seen him do that.

Like Ron, confusion and denial was visible in Harry and Hermione's eyes.

Yeah, it was too far of me to assume Professor Quirrell immediately if I don't have any proof to show them. 

"It can't be Professor Quirrell! He's one of the nicest professors in the school besides Professor Sprout!" I made a loud, obnoxious laugh inside my head when Hermione said that and of course she picked the head of the Hufflepuff house as one of the kindest professors here in Hogwarts; she's a Hufflepuff for god's sake.

"Did you know that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, Mione?" I take another sip from my pumpkin juice. Hermione silenced herself, looking down on her plate while contemplating certain things to see if I'm right.

"It's Snape. I can't think of anyone else who would try to get past that dog, even Percy said that he's been after Quirrell's job for _years,_ didn't he?" Ron defends Harry's speculation and as expected, the raven haired boy nodded in agreement with his red haired friend.

"Just to clarify, Quirrell has only been a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher for a year, specifically, this year. Before this, he taught Muggle Studies for far longer than DADA although he is quite adept with defensive magic before he was even a DADA teacher." I told the three Gryffindors, placing my half empty glass of pumpkin juice back in the table. 

Ron didn't say anything after that and I'm sure he's thinking a lot of comebacks and refute for my accusation that Quirrell is the mastermind.

"Besides, he is a Ravenclaw; they are intelligent and are capable of creating a red herring so people can believe them although I think that's more of a Slytherin trait," I smile gently, resting my head on the palm of my hand while enjoying their debating looks.

" **Right, Weasley?** " Glancing over at the red haired boy who got startled at the mention of his name, I made sure that my tone of voice meant that I still haven't forgotten that thing he said to me on Halloween.

I know I said that he shouldn't go and talk to me but since we are in the Great Hall and in the Gryffindor table, it'd be a problem if I caused a commotion here.

"Where do you get all of these information?" Hermione, who looked at us and Ron for a short while since she suspect that something happened between the two of us, asks while giving me a curious and confused face.

"If you have certain connections with other people, you'll get to know these things quite easily." I lied, obviously while taking another sip from my pumpkin juice. 

"But of course, this is just my speculation; it might be Quirrell or it might be Snape. There aren't any right answers as of this moment so we can't be too sure just yet." As I took one final gulp from my juice, I sigh in satisfaction and placed the glass back to the table while licking my lips.

"Also, tomorrow is the match between Gryffindor and Slytherin, right? Are you sure that we should be discussing this instead of Potter preparing himself for tomorrow?" Smiling innocently, I stand up and is getting ready to take my leave since I still have an unfinished essay to go through.

"We can continue talking more about this tomorrow, after the match. For now, let's get some rest since Potter is going to need a lot of his strength for tomorrow." The three Gryffindors stayed silent until Hermione nodded in agreement, glancing over at the two male Gryffindors.

"(Y/N) is right; we can continue this tomorrow." The brown haired girl briefly said. While Harry and Ron looked disappointed and frustrated that they weren't able to find anything wrong about my speculation that Quirrell is the master mind, I continued to ignore their faces and stretched my arms.

"Alright, good night, Hermione. Good luck for tomorrow as well, Potter." I waved the two a goodbye except Ron because I don't want to greet him a good night. 

I kept my condition and wouldn't acknowledge him unless I absolutely need to.

I already walked back to the Slytherin table before any of them could speak a word.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

As (Y/N) walked away, Ron felt irritated that they were throwing shade and didn't even greet him a good night. 

Of course, it's his fault and he should be the one who's going to fix it but his Gryffindor pride won't allow him to do that. 

He thinks that it has to be (Y/N) who should be apologizing to him since they were the first one to start this anyway.

The red haired boy sighed in defeat and stood up, ready to go back to the Gryffindor common room until he felt a hand circle around his wrist. 

"You are going to stay for a while." He looked down and saw Hermione look up to him with narrowed brown eyes, giving him a mixed look of skepticism and anger.

"What do you need me for?" Ron grumbled and sat back down, placing his hands inside his pockets while impatiently waiting for whatever Hermione wants from him. 

"What is going on between you and (Y/N)?" She asked and Ron felt his breath hitch when she asked him that. 

He doesn't want to tell her what happened since Hermione is partially the reason why they are ignoring and hating each other right now but mostly because he was being a prick and insulted (Y/N).

Harry, who had heard Hermione's question, sweat dropped and immediately but shakily stood up from his seat. 

"I'm really tired so I'm going ahead. I need to be up early for tomorrow to do some final checks in our strategy and if I'm late, Wood will not take it very--" The raven haired boy was already creeping away from Ron, who was sending him a glance of desperation. 

Before he could get far though, Hermione also grabbed his wrist.

"No, you're staying as well. You two are acting very suspicious." She pulled Harry back to his seat and observed the nervous faces that the two male Gryffindors have.

"Alright, spit it out." Hermione said, crossing her arms while waiting for a response. 

Harry and Ron didn't know what to say since they don't want to tell her the issue that Ron has with (Y/N).

But neither of them will be able to escape once Hermione has her eyes on them for a small yet serious interrogation.

So with a sigh of defeat, Ron opened his mouth to tell Hermione the truth. 

"I basically insulted them because they confronted me after you ran off that Halloween. Now, they're extremely furious and doesn't even want to talk to me." As he finished explaining, Hermione's eyes flared with anger that it scared Ron.

An angry Alem is one thing but an angry Hermione is someone who you don't want to witness.

"You did what!?" She exclaimed and flicked her eyes towards Harry, who's looking away from her. 

"And you were there but you didn't do anything to stop him?" Harry looked offended when Hermione asked him that. 

Since when was it his job to supervise Ron whenever he does something wrong?

"For your information, I did try to pull him away but he didn't listen." Harry rolled his eyes while Hermione squinted her's, not liking Harry's tone and the way he's acting. 

He is equally guilty if he feels the need to avoid Hermione and the topic itself.

Hermione sighed in anger, returning her attention back to Ron. 

"Considering that (Y/N) was acting very stern towards you, I assume that you haven't apologized to them yet?" The question made Ron angry; if (Y/N) was the one who confronted him first, why should he apologize for it?

"I haven't because they haven't yet." Hermione was appalled when Ron answered her question. She slammed her hands on the table and scowled angrily at the red haired boy.

"Ronald, even if (Y/N) confronted you first, you were the one who hurt their feelings and took it too far by insulting them! Besides, they confronted you because they were trying to defend me and what's wrong with that!?" The brown haired girl exclaimed and nearly yelled at the redhead, who looked down with a slight shame on his conscience.

When Ron hadn't replied to Hermione, she huffed angrily and stood up from her seat. Her face loosened and she wasn't scowling anymore although she does look concerned and worried since she doesn't want (Y/N) and Ron to fight any longer.

"I want you to realize the difference between defending yourself and just straight up insulting someone while hurting their feelings just in case if you're thinking that your actions are justified." Hermione turns around, adjusting her uniform and dusting off any dirt she may have gotten on her skirt.

"After that, I want you to apologize to (Y/N). If you would just take a moment to put your house prejudices and see that they aren't like the rest of the Slytherins like Malfoy, I'm sure you two will be great friends." She sends Ron a smile by peering through her shoulder. Ron raised his head to face his fellow Gryffindor's smiling face.

Harry didn't say a word throughout the whole sermon from Hermione but he kept thinking about her words; how (Y/N) really is quite different from the other Slytherins. 

He doesn't know much about the houses and was only told that Slytherins are "evil" and the house where dark wizards and witches usually come from but (Y/N)... is making him change his perspective.

"Good night, Ron." She briefly greets Ron a good night before turning to look at Harry with the same smile on her face. 

"You should get some rest too, Harry. You said that you're going to be early tomorrow, didn't you?" Hermione chuckles before walking away from the two boys, who were in deep thinking if (Y/N) really is as kind as Hermione describes them as.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

I cried happily as I held up my parchment in glory. I almost had the urge to kiss the parchment but I held myself back as I stood up and jumped around for a second while squealing happily.

"Merlin's beard, (Y/N). It's like, 11 PM; keep it down." Alem mumbled underneath his blanket as he was moving around, trying to sleep while I'm being extremely noisy. 

I scoffed at Alem's lying figure on his bed placing my parchment on my desk carefully like its a precious treasure that shouldn't be tainted by anyone.

"You're so weird, sleeping before 12 AM. I mean, who even does that nowadays?" I began to twist the inkwell's cap close and then wiping the tip of my red quill with that blank paper, that Quirrell gave me a few months ago, since I couldn't find a tissue so when I put it back inside my bag, it wouldn't stain any of my books or the insides of my bag.

"Uh, everyone and you're the one who's being weird, sleeping at 1 AM. I'll have you know that sleeping late is bad for your health." I heard Alem remove his blanket from his body on his bed while I rolled my parchment when I made sure that the ink is already dry.

"Psh, my health doesn't care about me so I have no reason to take care of it as well." Stretching my arms, I gave out a small satisfying groan before jumping on my bed. 

I bounced a little bit from the impact while I grabbed my pillows and hugged them tightly.

I smile in satisfaction at the soft and fluffy texture of the pillow. My body agreed and began to ease itself on my bed as I sprawled my legs out while hugging my pillow close to my chest.

"You're really weird." Alem commented before he engulfed his body again with his blanket. I swear, he does this so often that I find it amazing; how the hell does he manage to breathe so well without having to remove his blanket away from his face just to take a whiff of fresh air?

In the midst of thinking some random thoughts like how does flying feels like, I managed to fall asleep but didn't have any trouble sleeping since I felt relieved that I managed to finish that goddamn essay on time.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

The next morning, I felt refreshed and ready to watch my first Quidditch match ever since I came in this world. 

I felt even more refreshed when I saw Cedric in the Hufflepuff table, smiling and waving at me. Of course, I blushed softly and returned his morning wave.

Damn, I was supposed to protect Cedric in my fourth year but I'm already blushing and catching feelings for him in my first year.

"Someone looks happy this morning." Alem chuckles while grabbing a toast from the table and taking a bite out of it. 

"Is it because Diggory-" I immediately slapped another toast inside his mouth while he was still chewing with a smiling angry look on my face.

"Have another toast, brother!" I cut him off. Alem desperately tried to get my hand out of his mouth, clawing it in the process but I didn't feel any pain from his short ass nails.

"Momph mphit! _(stop it!)_ " He tried to speak and I eventually placed my hand away from his mouth, smiling happily and keeping my cheerful attitude in the morning. 

I could hear Alem coughing and gagging but I just grabbed another toast and took a bite as well.

"Good morning, Rosewood!" An annoyingly familiar voice caused me to stop chewing and when I processed on who that voice belongs to, my shoulders slumped and my cheerful attitude disappeared and instead replaced it with an annoyed look. 

I started to bite out of my toast aggressively as I turned around to face that annoying third year chaser.

Adrian Pucey, who's already using his Quidditch gear, gave me a toothy grin. I wanted to punch him in the face and knock his teeth out.

I didn't say anything to him and just kept my loathsome gaze on his happy-go-lucky attitude while I kept biting and chewing my toast aggressively.

"Aren't you going to wish me good luck?" He pouts and I narrowed my eyes, huffing angrily. 

"I don't have to wish you anything except I wish that you'll fail miserably in today's game." I turned around as I finished my first toast. 

I heard Pucey laughing behind me, ignoring my sneer and my hurtful words like it doesn't matter to him if I act mean to him or not.

"Ah, I see, I see! I hope that I'll do my best today as well!" An irk mark appeared in my forehead and was about to throw the toast that I just got from the table towards him but he laughs once more and immediately ran to the far end of the table.

I huff angrily as if steam was coming out of my nose. Alem couldn't help but laugh and he laughed harder when I shot him a threatening glare.

In the distance, a hoot of an owl caught our attention. We all looked up to the ceiling and even though the owl is far away, the item that it's carrying is very eye-catching; it's very long and quite big to be a normal package.

If I squint my eyes hard enough, I could see that it's Hedwig, flying down towards the Gryffindor table and dropping the gift in front of the raven haired boy. 

We were all looking at Harry, wondering what kind of gift he had gotten but I just poured myself a glass of apple juice since I already know what it is anyway.

I heard a gasp coming out of Alem's mouth and it startled me; I almost dropped my apple juice. 

"The hell are you gasping for?" I ask him while taking a sip from my apple juice.

"Potter's got a Nimbus 2000!" He whispered close to me as he frowns and rested his hand on his hand. 

"Lucky him; he's the only first year in our batch who's been able to ride a broom, a good broom at that, _and_ enter a Quidditch team, as a seeker, mind you." He picks his food with his fork, stabbing some mushrooms in his plate.

"Stop picking on your food." I sigh and continued to drink, not caring if Harry is getting obvious favoritism from Dumbledore. I mean, what did we expect, honestly?

After a while of eating and talking to my brother, another hooting sound can be heard from the distance. 

Only this time, there were multiple hoots from multiple owls. I look up and before I can even identify if our family owl, Walter, is coming towards us, an owl dropped itself in front of me.

I shriek and almost dropped my third glass of apple juice, again. When I examined the owl that stood in front of me, I was confused because,

It looked nothing like Walter.

_Who the heck is this?_

The owl had hazel brown feathers with black spots around his wing and his back. His large greenish eyes almost bore itself in my soul but I found it cute, to be honest. He looks very well groomed as well. The owl had a clean white envelope on its beak.

"Oh, Garrett. Good morning!" Alem chuckles and pats the owl, named Garrett, on his head. Garrett coos softly in his hand while he closed his eyes, enjoying Alem's pats. 

It must be Alem's owl, considering how happy he looks while patting his head.

"How the hell does this boy know the owls that end up in my seat?" I sweat drop as my brother retracted his hand away from Garrett's head. 

The owl turned its head towards me before walking with his small, short talons.

I extended my hand out in front of Garrett and when I did, the hazel brown owl dropped the envelope in my hands. 

Garrett hoots happily and cuddles with my arm that I used to extend my hand out.

I was surprised but happy nonetheless since this is the first owl that's ever snuggled up to me. My happiness meter this morning increased as I rubbed Garrett's neck, who seemed to enjoy it because of his low satisfying sounds that's vibrating through his neck.

"It's weird how Garrett likes you but Walter doesn't." Alem chuckles as I retracted my hand when Garrett stepped away and began to spread his wings, ready to fly away from us. 

"Garrett is better than Walter." I briefly stated as I opened the envelope, gently ripping off the familiar yellow seal that's extremely identical to the seal from the last letter that our mother sent us.

"Oh, it's mum." I blinked, only realizing that the yellow seal could symbolize the fact that our mother is a Hufflepuff and our father is a Ravenclaw. 

She did mention that she had a bet with our father; me being a Hufflepuff and Alem being a Ravenclaw while father's bet was vice versa.

Come to think of it, she also did mention that Alem had an owl and I technically used his owl to reply to that letter that our mother sent us a few months ago but to be fair, I've never seen the Owlery and Alem was the one who had to deliver it.

It's weird how she only replied now; she must be very busy with her work. Ministry work must be very exhausting if the letter has only been sent today.

Either that or Garrett is just slow at delivering letters.

Summarizing my letter that I replied to our mother a few months ago; I basically told her that we're doing fine and that Alem is doing really great at school. I made new friends; Harry, Ron and Hermione, although they really weren't my friends that time. My relationship with Draco is... okay but I didn't tell her anything else than that since I started ignoring him at that time.

Of course, I didn't tell her about my "memory loss". 

I might get pulled out of Hogwarts because of my Hufflepuff mother because she might be worried that something happened to me.

Would my Ravenclaw father even believe me if I said that, though?

Alem nods in acknowledgement and didn't say anything further since the letter is addressed to me anyway. 

I retrieve the letter from the envelope and gently placed the opened letter beside me while unfolding the neatly folded letter.

The familiar handwriting immediately greeted me, making me stop whatever I'm doing, like drinking my apple juice, and read it.

_Dearest (Y/N),_   
_Hello, dear! I apologize if I haven't replied as soon as I can. As you can already tell, your father and I are very busy and I suppose I should tell you something regarding of the upcoming Christmas break,_

_Since Ministry is somewhat getting a break for Christmas, our department suddenly got an urgent call to go to America to help them with a certain project. What kind of project that is, I'm not too sure myself but it seems that we will be gone again for another month or so, considering that America is quite far from London plus all the work._

_Which means that we will not be home for Christmas break. I sincerely apologize for disappointing you, (Y/N) and I tried my hardest to spare, at least a day, to spend Christmas with all of us together as a family because I also miss you and your brother so much!_

_Of course, you have the option to go spend the Christmas break with your friend, Zeke. You know, that boy that you like who lives across the street and I assume that you are going to deny this claim so I should already tell you that your feelings for Zeke is very obvious._

_But if you are going to spend Christmas there in Hogwarts, please let me know and write me a letter. Although I don't reply as fast as I should be, I still acknowledge them and read them._

_I have already bought gifts right before we left for America. There are also gifts for your friends so make sure that they receive it. I also bought some gift for Malfoy's son since you and him are in good terms. I'm really happy that you've managed to make friends with Gryffindors; you weren't letting that house prejudice get in your mind. Always be kind to them, (Y/N)! Being straightforward and mean is why you only had one friend in your entire childhood._

_Wallace will send them consecutively from the residence itself using Walter. We've left him there so Wallace can also send you a letter and a gift of his own. Expect the gifts to be sent right before Christmas. Also, if you try to open them right before Christmas, I'll know so don't even think about it._

_Anyway, advanced Merry Christmas, you two! I hope you are enjoying your first year in Hogwarts! You will tell me all about it once you're back home for summer, alright?_

_Love, Mother._

Of course I understood that my parents are working very hard right now. Besides, I'm used to being alone anyway but I'm sure Alem's on a different page although he will also understand that our parents are very busy and can't spend Christmas with us.

And while this letter is wholesome; my mother buying gifts for us and for Harry, Ron, Hermione and Draco because they're my friends... somewhat, the only question that I have in my mind after reading it was;

_Who the fuck is Zeke and Wallace?_

"Hey, Alem," I grab his attention while placing the letter back inside the envelope. Alem hums, indicating that I have his attention. 

"Who's Zeke and Wallace?" I ask while grabbing some cupcake from a tray and taking a bite out of it.

Honestly, me just eating random food in the table is the reason why I'm so out of shape.

Alem stopped whatever he's doing, reading probably, and turned to look at me with his eyebrow raised. 

"Did mum mention both of them?" He asks, flicking his eyes over to the letter and beckoning for me to give it to him.

I oblige, handing him the letter and then taking a bite out of my cupcake. 

"Also, Zeke is a muggle boy who we've been friends with since his family moved across the street five years ago. Wallace is our family butler and he has always been in our household since we were born." His words trailed off the more he kept reading the letter but I understood his explanation and my mouth formed an 'o' as I came to a certain realization.

Wait, since when did I have a butler and a muggle friend?

A friend who I, supposedly, like?

Alem silently read the letter and even after reading it, he was silent. He didn't say anything as he folded the letter and placed it back inside the envelope, closing it in the process. 

"Are you alright?" I ask, watching Alem stand up from his seat. He gives me a sad smile, his eyes that bore the same color as mine showing visible sadness.

Was he sad that we weren't able to come home and spend Christmas with our parents?

"Let's go to the field. The game might be starting already." I couldn't do anything but stare as he started to walk away from the table and towards the front door of the Great Hall. 

When I realized that Alem was serious about leaving me behind, I stood up hastily and quickly fixed my Slytherin scarf while running to catch up to my brother, who didn't even take a minute to look back and realize that he's already leaving me behind.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

As I stood on the Slytherin stand beside Alem, I crossed my arms while the tension and the prejudice that the Gryffindors and Slytherins almost wanting me to choke myself because of the way that Slytherins are sneering at the Gryffindors.

"This is stupid." I mumbled, addressing the tension between the two houses while bringing my scarf up to my mouth while glancing down at the green, empty field which would soon have the players in it.

The loud cheers from the two houses will surely leave me deaf by the end of the game. Why are they cheering so loudly as if it's a competition just to see who cheers louder?

My shoulders being squeezed from left and right is already draining my cheerful attitude from this morning. Salazar, I hate crowded places and I'm starting to think that coming here was a mistake.

The Gryffindor's cheered loudly once the Gryffindor team stepped out with their brooms held on their hands. 

Looking from a distance, you could really tell that Harry is fancy with his broom even though this is his first game. 

Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor team captain, was the one in front which makes sense... because he's the captain?

Behind Wood is Harry, the team's seeker, holding his Nimbus 2000 and a visible look of anxiety spread across his face. 

I can hear the sound of boos from my stand and I wanted nothing more than to use a silencing hex on them because booing a different team is stupid and only makes you more of an idiot.

In the team, I could also see Fred and George, the team's beater with Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet and Katie Bell, the team's chasers.

I'm very proud of myself for remembering the names of the Gryffindor Quidditch team's players. I do know the names from my team but eh, I don't know if I'm right about it, to be honest.

On cue, the Slytherins cheered loudly once our team stepped out from the opposite side of the pitch with their green and silver colored Quidditch uniforms. 

I pressed my hands over my ears so I can, at least, prevent myself for getting deaf due to the loud shrieking in the Quidditch pitch.

Marcus Flint, a chaser and the captain of the team was in front. He's looking at the Gryffindor team with such hate already. I rolled my eyes at this, pulling my scarf closer to my mouth as I did so.

Terrence Higgs, the seeker of the team was behind Flint. Behind the seeker, Derrick (as Lee Jordan only called him as) and Bole, the beaters, walked proudly towards the center of the pitch. The last member of the team and the last in line is Miles Bletchley, the keeper of the team.

I am silently rooting for Gryffindor since Gryffindor is going to win anyways and Slytherin deserved its loss because of Flint hitting a bludger right at Wood's face. That was a foul play, how did Madam Hooch not disqualify this poor excuse of a chaser?

He had no sportsmanship at all.

Everyone mounts on their brooms and began to zoom around the pitch, signalling the beginning of the first Quidditch match this season.

"Hello, and welcome to Hogwarts' first Quidditch game of the season!" The commentator, Lee Jordan, exclaims and earns another set of cheers from the two houses. 

"Today's game; Slytherin versus Gryffindor!" The male Gryffindor added while I silently cheered for Gryffindor while hiding my face with my scarf. This is a habit of mine so don't judge me.

After a while of the players flying around the pitch like a bunch of mosquitoes, they eventually take their positions at the center of the pitch in a circle. 

Most of the students silenced themselves while some are still cheering for their teams.

Harry and Higgs take their positions as well, higher than most of their teammates since they're the seekers. 

Higgs' dislike for Harry is quite visible when he's looking at the raven haired boy with a smirk, thinking that the Slytherin team will win this because this is Harry's first game.

"The players take their positions as Madam Hooch steps out onto the field to begin the game." Lee Jordan says, our eyes on the field where Madam Hooch walked into. 

Once the flying teacher is underneath the flying Quidditch players, she sets the trunk down to the grass.

She looked up to the players for a moment, probably saying something before the game starts. After a while, Madam Hooch kicks the trunk open. 

"The bludgers are up... followed by the golden snitch!" The bludgers zoom out of the trunk quite aggressively while the golden snitch flies out after, circling around the trunk for a moment before dashing off into a random direction around the field. 

"Remember, the snitch is worth 150 points; the seeker who catches the snitch ends the game." Lee Jordan explains, earning another chant from the Gryffindor stand for Harry to encourage him.

Madam Hooch crouches down to grab the quaffle from the trunk, which is the last 'ball' left in the trunk to start the game. 

"The quaffle is released," She throws the quaffle up in the air and in an instant, Angelina Johnson grabs the quaffle, which makes Gryffindor take possession of it.

"And the game begins!" Jordan exclaims as Angelina zooms past the Slytherin team. The players immediately scattered and the Slytherin chaser team tries to take the quaffle back from Angelina.

"Bets on Slytherin winning this game." Alem leans closer to my ear and I certainly did not expect that.

I yelped and stepped away from my brother. After I calmed down, I smile at him and nod, taking his bet.

"Alright, I'm in Gryffindor with this one then." We both turned our attention back to the game and it was at that moment where Angelina threw the quaffle to one of the hoops in the Slytherin's side.

A ding can be heard, indicating that Angelina had scored for the Gryffindor team. Because of this, the Gryffindor stand claps and cheers for the first score that the team has.

"Angelina Johnson scores! 10 points for Gryffindor!" Lee Jordan announces while the Slytherin stand is groaning, disappointed that our house didn't score first.

While Harry was clapping, happy that Gryffindor scored first, a bludger was zooming right towards him. Luckily for the raven haired boy, he was able to dodge it as he flew to the side instantaneously to avoid getting hit.

"Slytherin takes possession of the quaffle," Pucey holds the quaffle in his arms while looking behind him to see if any chasers or bludgers from the Gryffindor team is chasing after him.

When Alicia Spinnet is right on his broom's tail, Pucey threw the quaffle towards Flint in order to throw the female chaser off.

"Pucey passes to Captain Marcus Flint," While the quaffle is in possession of our dingus captain, he did his best to avoid and dodge any of the chasers and bludgers that were coming right on his way. I have to admit; Flint is good at dodging.

When Flint is right near the Gryffindor's side of the field, he throws the quaffle towards a hoop but unfortunately for him, Oliver Wood manages to kick the quaffle away from the hoop with his broom which is very clever of him.

The Gryffindor captain seemingly smirks as the Slytherin captain sends him a glare for disrupting his score.

"Gryffindor is now taking possession of the quaffle," In the other side, Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet are throwing the ball around in order to confuse and throw Pucey and Flint off.

Angelina takes the final catch once she's close enough to the hoops in our side of the pitch and throws the quaffle in one of the hoops. Once again, our keeper fails to keep the quaffle out which makes Gryffindor score another point.

Bletchley snaps his fingers in frustration as a ding can be heard from the tower where Jordan is commentating.

"Another 10 points for Gryffindor!" Jordan states and this time, Slytherin takes possession of the quaffle again.

I narrowed my eyes once Pucey took possession of the quaffle and kicked Alica back when she was way too close for his comfort. That foul little bitch.

The Slytherin stand laughs, clearly seeing how Pucey had kicked one of the Gryffindor's chasers back and I was the only one who wasn't amused by it. 

I look beside me and saw Alem narrowing his eyes as well, crossing his arms in disapproval.

Pucey throws the quaffle in one of the Gryffindor team's hoops and as I expected, Wood blocks it. He's a really good keeper, that Oliver Wood.

Flint, who finally had enough of Wood blocking every single quaffle that they're trying to throw, grabs a bat from one of our beaters, probably Derrick since the beater looks muscular, and whacks a bludger straight in Oliver Wood's stomach.

I grit my teeth in anger while I heard Alem gasp, clearly in disbelief at what Flint did. Our housemates didn't feel the same as we did though because they only laughed as Wood flew down to the ground, knocked out.

"That should be a foul! What--" Alem exclaims, gripping the rails of our stand tightly. The Gryffindor stand boos for what Flint did but I doubt that anyone from our team is affected by the negative reputation they're getting.

Our house captain points towards his right as Pucey nodded and did as he was told. The two Slytherin chasers box Angelina Johnson, who holds the possession of the quaffle, leaving her nowhere to escape.

Pucey, who had gotten Flint's signal, grabs the quaffle away from Angelina's grasp quite easily. The female chaser attempted to grab it back until she ran into one of the capes covering the towers, gliding down towards the ground as her broom basically threw her off as well.

The Gryffindor team boos loudly once more while my stand keeps encouraging this completely outrageous way of playing Quidditch.

Pucey throws the quaffle into one of the Gryffindor team's hoops and then scores with a ding. This continues for three more throws and I could've sworn I saw this foul git look at me with a confident smirk. 

Oh wipe that smirk off of your face; you're able to score because you're cheating.

Harry must've see the snitch somewhere in the field because, all of a sudden, his posture stiffened and he looks like he's ready to fly wherever the snitch is. 

After a few seconds of flying around the field, Harry's broomstick suddenly moved irrationally. It zooms around randomly, trying to knock the Gryffindor team's seeker off of his broom.

I narrowed my eyes and pulled my scarf closer to my nose before heading out without Alem noticing because he's so invested into the game that he didn't notice me leaving.

Once I was out of the Slytherin stands, I look up to the pitch and saw that Pucey is doing all the scores for the Slytherin team while Flint is doing all he can to block the other chasers and the bludgers that Fred and George are throwing at him.

Harry's broom is still moving around and with that, I ran towards the stand where the professors are spectating as I pulled my wand out of my robe, ready to burn robes and everything.

Once I was underneath the floors of the stands, I discreetly pointed my wand at the loose fabric from Quirrell's robe and I made sure that it is Quirrell's and not some other professor's because damn, I'm a failure if I can't even get my target right.

"Incendio." The fire spell I tried to conjure on Halloween night worked perfectly today and instead of it only being a small spark lighting up in my wand, it's now a large orange fire that could seriously burn me if I stay too close or too long in my spot.

Once Quirrell's robes started to burn at a quick pace, I immediately escaped the stand and cast Wingardium Leviosa on a random rock, just in case they're going to check our wands to see if we last conjured a fire spell.

I was already sweating by the time I arrived at the Slytherin stands; I didn't expect it to be this far and by the time I was already standing beside my brother, Harry already caught the snitch... with his mouth.

"He's got the snitch! Harry Potter receives 150 points for catching the snitch!" Lee Jordan exclaims happily because his house won, obviously. 

In the field, Madam Hooch blows her whistle.

"Gryffindor wins!" Madam Hooch announces the victory of Gryffindor and on cue, the Gryffindor stand erupts in huge cheers and chants the name of their house and Harry's name, for bringing them victory.

My house groans and frowns in disappointment. In the corner of my eye, Draco sighs in disappointment while burying his face in the palm of his hands.

I scoffed, thinking that Slytherin deserved it for playing dirty. I look at Alem, who frowns deeply, realizing that he just lost his bet with me.

"Hey, you owe me a galleon, brother." I smirk, resting my arm on his shoulder. He flicked his eyes to me briefly but he chuckles and looks away, gently pushing my arm away from his shoulder.

"Oh shut up, (Y/N)." 

»»————- ♡ ————-««

Just as (Y/N) and Alem were about to walk back to the common room to finish their projects, (Y/N) noticed that Harry, Ron and Hermione are walking to a different hallway, probably looking for Hagrid to tell him about what they saw.

The older twin turns to look at Alem, placing their hand on his shoulder with a smile on their face. Alem stopped talking, giving his attention to his sister/brother.

"Hey, Alem. I need to talk to Potter for a while so you go on ahead, alright?" Alem blinks and nods, seemingly fine with it but his look turned into a suspicious one as he grabbed (Y/N)'s hand and removed it from his shoulder.

"If Weasley's with them and he does something to you, call me and I'm going hex him." They chuckle at his words, ruffling their brother's (H/C) hair while appreciating Alem's protectiveness.

"Alright, short boy." Before Alem could bite (Y/N)'s hand away from his hair, they already ran off to find Harry and his friends, leaving Alem behind to walk back to the Slytherin common room.

After a while of looking for the raven haired boy, (Y/N) eventually managed to find them talking with Hagrid, the half-giant who is also the Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts, or just to make it short, the Gamekeeper.

"Hey, Potter! Nice catch back there!" (Y/N) waves at Harry, who also turned his attention towards them. Everyone followed Harry's eyes and saw (Y/N) growing uncomfortable getting all of the attention, even from Hagrid.

Hermione blinks in surprise and seems to be hesitating about something but (Y/N) decided to brush it off since they know that she'll probably address it to them sooner or later.

"Hullo der, Rosewood! Hermione's been tellin' me all 'bout you!" Hagrid's gruff voice made (Y/N) turn their attention towards him. The (H/C) haired girl/boy sends the gamekeeper a gentle smile.

"Really, now?" They chuckle as Hermione blushed softly, not expecting that Hagrid would tell them anything about that.

Ron rolled his eyes but didn't look as if he was bearing any hate for (Y/N) anymore. If any other Slytherin met Hagrid, they would immediately insult and call him names but (Y/N) was different.

"I don't believe we've met before, though!" Hagrid returns the smile and extends his large hand out. (Y/N) chuckles once more and takes their hand at Hagrid's, gently wrapping it around his large hand while shaking it.

"Rubeus Hagrid, nice to meet 'ya, Rosewood!" The gamekeeper grins as they retracted their hands, ending the introduction from the two. (Y/N) and Hagrid stared at each other for a moment with a smile, appreciating each other with only their eyes.

"Rosewood, I have evidence that Snape _is_ the one who's trying to get past Fluffy, that three headed dog." Harry takes a step towards (Y/N) to interfere, oozing with confidence from that game that he just won. 

(Y/N) cocks their eyebrow up in amusement, placing their hands inside the pockets of their robe as they turned their attention to Harry.

"Oh, what's that?" They ask. Harry pouts angrily when he saw that (Y/N) is not even taking him seriously.

"He's the one who was jinxing my broom, trying to knock me off." Harry said, making (Y/N) silent for a while. The raven haired boy silently smirks, thinking that (Y/N) finally managed to hit a road block.

"Are you sure that it's Snape?" (Y/N) asks after a moment of silence. Harry looked confused as to why they asked him that; who else would try to jinx his broom?

"What do you mean? Hermione saw that it was Snape; he was mumbling some weird things on his breath and didn't break any... eye contact, was it correct, Hermione?" He looked at Hermione, who looks bothered by something for confirmation.

The brown haired girl nods and Harry took notice of her strange behavior.

"Alright, Hermione. What's wrong?" Harry sighs, his eyes becoming half-lidded since he's annoyed that (Y/N) still doesn't believe him.

Hermione glances over at (Y/N) for a while before setting her brown eyes down to the ground. Harry finds her actions weird since he's never seen her do something like this before.

"It's just..." She starts and stuttered for a while before taking a deep breath to try and pull herself together.

"(Y/N) was the one who set Professor Quirrell's robes on fire and in the process, knocking Snape over as well." Hermione says while (Y/N) blinks in surprise, not expecting Hermione to see them sneaking underneath the floorboards of the stand where the professors spectated in.

Harry's green eyes widened, giving (Y/N) a look of disbelief as they looked around and avoiding the looks that they're getting as if they don't have anything to do about it.

"...meaning?" Ron, who didn't catch up to what Hermione said, tilted his head to the side. Hermione sighs, ready to give a simpler explanation to the red haired boy.

"(Y/N) was the one who saved Harry falling from his broom, not me." As Hermione explained it to him, Ron's mouth parted open since he didn't expect that (Y/N) was the one who saved Harry from falling to his death.

"Is that true?" Harry asks, turning his head to (Y/N), who's still looking around and whistling suspiciously.

"Well, it's useless to deny it in front of Hermione so yes, it is." They sighed in defeat, placing their hands behind their head.

"But why deny it if you really did it?" Harry asks.

"I only did the right thing, Potter; I don't need recognition for what I've done." They simply said as if it doesn't really matter to them if they did it or not. Harry stayed silent, his mind boggled by how this Slytherin's mind works.

He wants to understand them because Hermione trusts them. He wants to get to know them better but it's almost impossible if they're so complicated most of the time and this is something that Harry wants to get to the bottom of.

"'Right, you four. Let's get this straight," Hagrid intervened, stepping closer to the four students.

"You're meddlin' in things that ought not to be meddled in. It's dangerous." The gamekeeper warns, eyeing the three Gryffindors and the only Slytherin in the group. Hagrid leans away from them, hoping that what he said will get through their heads.

"What that dog is guarding is strictly between Professor Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel." Hagrid said the identity of the ones who have direct business at the thing that Fluffy is guarding accidentally.

Harry's face scrunched up in confusion once he heard Hagrid say an unfamiliar name, tilting his head to the side.

"Nicholas Flamel?" Harry asks, hoping that Hagrid will tell him something about this mysterious man. 

Hagrid's face paled and his body stiffened when he realized that he just said something he shouldn't have. With a lowered head, he ignored Harry's question and leaves the four behind, wondering what the hell just happened.

(Y/N) only stared at Hagrid's large figure walking away from him, seemingly unaffected at the new lead that Hagrid just gave them.

Having watched the Fantastic Beasts' second movie and reading the first book, (Y/N) sighs and turned to look at the trio, questions rumbling through ther minds.

"Nicholas Flamel... Who's Nicholas Flamel?" Harry asked himself, eyeing Hermione for any answers.

"...I don't know." Hermione said, noticing the way how Harry looked at her as if he was asking for answers that she, very well knew, doesn't.

"(Y/N)?" Harry, addressing them by their first name, gave them a look of hope just to see if they can help in any way. 

(Y/N), finding it weird that Harry is suddenly calling them by their first name, shook their head even though they do know something. 

The (H/C) haired girl let Harry be if he wants to call them by their first name since this just means that Harry, somewhat, trusts them now.

Harry frowns in disappointment as the four students began to walk away, talking and thinking about who Nicholas Flamel could be after a Quidditch match that just happened a few moments ago.

**»»————- ♡ ————-««**

**A/N:**

**Haha, so you know what I said last chapter about it being the longest chapter in the book by far?**

**I take it back; this has 17,438 words in it :)**

**I hope you enjoyed it anyway! I'm really glad that I'm able to update more often now. I'm really into writing this book and I cannot wait to show you all of the ideas that I have for this story!**

**Also, I have a little surprise for the next chapter;**

**A new contender joins the battle!**

**I'll let you guess who that's going to be and if you guess correctly, you'll get a free cookie by the end of the next chapter.**

**Anyways,** [ **KuraTile** ](https://www.wattpad.com/user/KuraTile) **sent me a fanart of his (Y/N) and highlights from the previous chapters! Look at them; they're so adorable!**

**Thank you very much,** [ **KuraTile** ](https://www.wattpad.com/user/KuraTile) **for sending me this! This really made my night and I literally screamed in happiness!**

**If you aren't too busy, please give him a follow and check out his reading lists just in case you find any books that you might like because he doesn't have any books :)**

**Anyway guys, once again, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and look forward to the next one to see if you're right about your guesses lmao**


	13. I - XII:「The Second Song」

**❝My love for you is the very reason why I have the strength to go on every single day.** **❞** **  
**

**»»————- ♡ ————-««**

Christmas is a day where we get to share all of our gifts to our loved ones, a day where we can get together with a family member that's been working in a different country, a day where everything is somewhat perfect even admits all of the horrible things that life is throwing right into our faces.

It's a day of giving and love. For me, I don't understand what Christmas really even means since I've never had the privilege to properly celebrate one in my entire life but I'm glad that I can experience that here in Hogwarts even though it's just a dream in my head.

Since Christmas is two days away, I grabbed my chance to snuggle up in my silver and green blanket while sitting right in front of the fireplace.

Because, you know, you don't have to worry about school work since their deadlines are way too far for you to even care about and it's Christmas; who the hell does homework during Christmas instead of hanging out with their family or taking a break just by staring up at the snow?

The cold weather along with the warm, comforting heat radiating from the fireplace makes everything so perfect. Surely, nothing will ever top, arguably the best, holiday this year, right?

"This is mine!"

Or so I thought...

My eyes snapped open in annoyance, turning my head around to see two random Slytherin students, who stayed in Hogwarts for Christmas, fighting over a present.

"No, this is mine!" The other student exclaimed, pulling it away from the other. 

I roll my eyes and turned away from them, snuggling closer to my blanket and tightening the soft fluffy fabric around my body.

Despite most of the students being away from Hogwarts to visit their families this Christmas, there is always going to be one or two students who will ruin your Christmas break by trying to steal other people's presents and claim that it's theirs.

These two random dinguses are no exception.

Since I couldn't bring myself to sleep after they interrupted me, I looked out into the window from my spot. 

I expected snow falling through the window but to my disappointment, I realized that our common room is right underneath the Black Lake.

So we really can't see anything except dark murky waters around our windows.

One of the cons being a Slytherin during Christmas but I doubt most Slytherins care about snow falling from outside their windows like they're a five year old child.

...so what if I am that five year old child? I don't care; snow looks great and beautiful!

"Hey." I look up and see Alem walking towards me, wearing his red sweater. 

He left his hair the way it is ever since he woke up this morning which I greatly applaud since, just like me, he also doesn't care about looking appropriate during Christmas break because you have nothing else to do anyway.

Even my hair is tangled and looks like a bird nest right now.

"You got the last present from mum?" I ask and scoot over to the side to make some space for him to sit on the sofa. 

Alem obliges and sighs, grabbing the hem of my silver and green blanket.

"Yes and it's certainly big, I tell you that." Once Alem was getting some blanket to cover his small feminine body as well, I made sure that I still have enough free space from the blanket just in case my foot doesn't get shelter from my blanket.

My full body should be covered with my blanket and if even the slightest bit of skin is exposed to the cold atmosphere of the common room, I am going to scream.

Once we were getting too comfortable in our position, snuggling up in my blanket with my brother and all that, we stared at the crackling firewood inside the fireplace as the fire blazes wondrously and emitting us the heat that we need.

"You're taking up too much space, you fatty." Alem broke the peaceful mood and I gasped, offended by what he just said that even my pupils widened as I stared at my brother, who seems to be preventing himself from laughing, with a bewildered look.

"I am not fat, you shemale!" I grab the blanket from his side and pulls it away from him, leaving his body exposed to the cold air of the common room.

No one deserves to share my warm cocoon if they call me fatty.

"Come on, share some with me!" Alem attempts to grab my blanket and pull it towards him so he can also cover his body with it but I also pulled back, preventing him from doing so.

"Am I witnessing an incestuous scene right before my eyes?" When someone mentioned 'incest', our faces scrunched up in disgust and looked to see who could've said such a thing.

Unsurprisingly, it was Draco who said that while holding the handle from his green luggage. 

He's well dressed for someone who's only coming back home to visit his parents this Christmas.

"Okay first of all Draco, that's disgusting." I put my hand up as I want him to stop. Alem nods in agreement and throwing Draco a nasty glare because of what he just said.

"Second of all, why are you so well dressed for someone who's only coming back home?" I take a good look at his suit that resembled like one of those orphans who are going away from a private orphanage because someone finally adopted him. 

Heck, even his shoes are polished even though they're going to be dirty anyway because of the snow.

"My father expects me to come home well-groomed and I believe this special suit that my mother had personally ordered and made for me from a professional suit maker in London will be of use to me in this occasion." Draco's boastfulness almost made me not pay attention to his suit since I don't really care if it's 'special'. 

In the end, it's nothing more than just an article of clothing.

"Oh okay, good bye." I waved him good bye and my waving motion almost makes it seem like I'm shooing him away which is what I'm lowkey doing. 

In the corner of my eyes, Alem seems to be scoffing and mumbling words under his breath.

Draco frowns, not taking my reaction well to his 'special' suit that his mother made for him. I mean, I personally don't care so if you want to impress me, you have to do your best.

Just as Draco was about to leave without saying goodbye with his luggage, I suddenly remembered that my mother has a present for him.

"Hey, Draco! Wait!" I called out to him, standing up from my seat but l wrapped my blanket close to me still as if I'm wearing a cloak of some sort.

A fluffy, soft cloak.

Draco turned around, surprised but confused because I called out for him.

"What is it?" He asked when I didn't tell him what I wanted immediately. Okay, I'm just hesitating because it'd be weird telling him that my mother has a gift for him for Christmas.

"...I have a gift for you." I told him, wrapping my blanket closer to my body. 

Even in the distance, I could see him blushing softly from my words and his grip on the handle of his luggage tightening every second.

"Wait here." I said before running off to our room to grab the present that my mother has for him with my blanket trailing right behind me.

I'm not going to leave my blanket behind and let Alem use it; he won't share it with me after I've left my guard down by leaving it there, I just know it.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

The two boys watched (Y/N)'s figure run off to their room to grab the present that their mother sent for Draco.

 _"Did they have to bring their blanket with them? They're awfully obsessed with it since Christmas break started."_ Draco thought, catching a glimpse of the silver and green colored blanket that (Y/N) wrapped around their small body run up to the stairs.

The platinum blonde haired boy sighs, scratching his head for a moment before turning to look back at (Y/N)'s brother, who seems to be glaring at them for quite some time now.

"What do you want?" Draco asks, his flustered expression that he had for (Y/N) a while ago completely disappearing as seconds pass by. 

"Just wondering how (Y/N) managed to warm up to you." Alem stands up as well, crossing his arms and staring at the window that only has dark murky water on the other side of it.

Draco narrowed his eyes at this, thinking that Alem is saying something offensive about his and (Y/N)'s friendship. 

Of course, those two are never meant to be friends at all considering the family rivalry like his family has with the Weasleys but you know what they say,

There's always room for change.

"I'm not sure what you mean by that, Rosewood." Draco says, his tone of voice being somewhat a mixture of anger and confusion. 

Alem, who obviously caught on to his tone of voice, turned around and smiles mockingly to the platinum blonde haired boy beside him.

"See, that's what I mean; you're quick to jump into conclusions, you're easily angry, you boast about your pureblood rubbish and your family pride is ridiculously high that I might as well jump off of it because I can't take it anymore." Alem lists the negative things that Draco has, not even hesitating to say something about his family.

Draco scoffs as he rolled his eyes, wanting to laugh at how hypocritical (Y/N)'s brother is.

Now he can see why (Y/N) is the oldest out of the two; his brother is immature as hell.

"Now I don't know what you've done to (Y/N) to make them forgive you for what you've done to us but I sure as hell won't forgive you even if you apologize to me about a million times." Alem said before Draco can even say a word and reply to the (H/C) haired boy.

The Rosewood twin takes a step forward to Draco, as if he's trying to act intimidating.

"I have no intention of apologizing to you if you're going to keep acting like that." Draco rolled his silver eyes once more when Alem said that, not taking any of what he said seriously because it's just really stupid and idiotic.

What Draco's more curious about is how (Y/N) can put up with their brother's attitude.

Just as Alem was about to speak another word, (Y/N) skips happily towards the two with a medium sized present held on their hands. A small, wrapped box is also on top of the medium sized present.

When Alem saw this, he was confused as to who that wrapped box belonged to but it became more clear to him when he realized that it's for Draco.

A smile curled up on to their lips when they handed out the present to the platinum blonde haired boy.

"Well, it's my mother and I's gift to you but... yeah." They shrugged awkwardly and Draco stared at the neatly wrapped present that's held on (Y/N)'s hands before grabbing it.

His heart beat quickened when he felt his hand brush through (Y/N)'s and a blush spreading through his cheeks when they said that Mrs. Rosewood had given him a present.

Draco thinks that (Y/N)'s mother must've given it to him as some sort of a blessing for him and (Y/N) although that's not really what it is.

"Thank you." He mumbled but (Y/N) heard it loud and clear with their ears. They grin happily, seeing how embarrassed their fellow Slytherin is after receiving a gift. 

_He must never get gifts from other people often_ , (Y/N) thought.

Meanwhile, Draco's stomach fluttered in happiness since he never thought that he'd receive a gift from (Y/N) themselves. He plans to treasure it for as long as he could live.

"I didn't know what to give you this Christmas so I just went with-" They stopped talking before they could reveal too much of what their gift is. 

(Y/N) laughs and waves their hand around, dismissing the topic with a nervous smile.

"Eh, you'll get to see it when you open it anyway so go find out yourself." They said and Draco nodded, not knowing what to say since this is the first time that he felt embarrassed over getting a gift from someone.

Even though it's small, it's still from (Y/N) so he doesn't care.

He only cares about the thought that they have for him that they actually bought him a gift for Christmas.

"You might miss the train, Draco. I suggest you should go now." (Y/N) glanced over at the clock situated at the wall of the common room.

Immediately, Draco is filled with disappointment since he wants to spend Christmas with (Y/N) but of course, fate had other plans for the Malfoy heir.

Draco sighs and gives (Y/N) a smile while ignoring Alem's death glare.

"I'll see you on January 6?" Draco says, hopefully with a bashful expression.

(Y/N) laughs with a nod and with that, Draco walks off while holding the presents that he got from (Y/N) and their mother close to his chest.

Man, he's having the best Christmas ever.

"You bought a gift for Malfoy but not for me?" Alem frowns, facing (Y/N) with a slightly disappointed look on his face.

(Y/N) chuckles and ruffles Alem's (H/C) bed hair, finding his disappointing look adorable.

"Don't worry, you get a gift from me too, you jealous bloke." They say while Alem is trying to bite their hand off of his hair.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

"Queen to E5" Ron orders a piece from the chess board to move to its designated position while my head is resting right on the palm of my hand.

I'm just watching them play wizard's chess since I don't really know how to play this game or chess in general.

I mean, I'm somewhat 'okay' with playing chess but not as if I'm a professional, you know?

The 'queen' moves to E5 and is standing right in front of a piece, maybe a knight or something. The queen picks up her throne and swings it towards the knight, breaking the piece with its shattered remains lying on the foot of the queen.

"That's totally barbaric!" Hermione piped up behind Ron, her Gryffindor scarf and luggage trailing right behind her. 

I look up to the brown haired girl and smiles as a greeting. Hermione sees my smile and smiles back before turning her attention back to the red haired boy.

"That's wizard's chess." Ron says briefly, picking up the shattered pieces from the board before his eyes trailed down to the luggage that Hermione is carrying.

"I see you've packed." He says, removing his eyes away from the luggage and faces Hermione instead.

"I see that you haven't." Hermione says back, tilting her head to the side.

"Change of plans; my parents decided to go to Romania to visit my brother, Charlie." Ron explains his story as to why he's staying in Hogwarts for Christmas, much to Harry's pleasure, of course.

"He's studying dragons there." Ron added, turning his eyes over to the chess board to see if there are still possible moves that Harry can make so he could lose.

"What about you, (Y/N)?" Hermione says, bringing her attention over to me, which I didn't expect. 

I almost dropped my head in surprise.

"Oh, my parents are going to America to sort things out. They haven't really told me the specifics so Alem and I are staying here for Christmas." I smile at the brown haired Gryffindor who hums understandingly.

"And speaking of Christmas," I lean my head away from my hand and grabbed the present that my mother has for Hermione from my side. 

I knew that she was going to be here anyway before she leaves for Christmas so why not just give it to her?

"My mother bought you a Christmas present." After showing the gift, Hermione's eyes widened as if she hadn't expected me to hand her a present.

She blinks in surprise and slowly grabs the present from my hand, staring at it for a moment before mumbling a shy thank you.

Why are they so shy whenever I give them presents? Draco was really bashful when I gave him one and now Hermione? Do they not get any presents during Christmas?

I mean, I don't get presents for Christmas back in the real world but come on, at least I'm not shy about it.

Ron and Harry stared at the gift that my mum got for Hermione, seemingly jealous that she got a present and they didn't.

I don't really want to give Ron a present because we're still on bad terms but mum will kill me if I don't give him the present that she gave him so might as well do it on Christmas Eve.

Well, it is tomorrow so I'll do it tomorrow.

"If you two are staying over for Christmas, you can help Harry, then." She regains her strict composure while holding the present in her hands.

"He's going to the library for information on Nicholas Flamel." Hermione adds before opening the luggage with the zipper and placing the gift inside so it wouldn't be a hassle.

Ron groans at what Hermione said, watching as Harry makes a move on the chess board.

"We've looked a _hundred_ times!" He says before ordering another piece to move on the board. 

Hermione sighs as she closed the luggage and leaned closer towards the two Gryffindors as if she didn't want others, except me of course, to hear what she's about to say.

"Not in the restricted section." Hermione whispers with a smile as she leans away and grabs the handle of her luggage, ready to walk away from us.

"Happy Christmas." She says before completely walking away and leaving us, staring at her for a moment until Ron speaks up, sighing as he did so.

"I think we've got a bad influence on her." He says before smiling mischievously at the raven haired boy.

"Also, checkmate." Ron laughs while Harry stares at the board in disbelief. He didn't realize that Ron already won the game.

Seeing that Harry can't do anything, he sighs and stands up from his seat while leaving the responsibility of cleaning and arranging the board up to Ron.

"I'm heading back. I need some rest." Harry yawns and glances over to me, seemingly observing my figure. 

Honestly, the more he stares at me, the more I'm getting creeped out so I sweat dropped and smiled nervously at the raven haired boy.

"Is... there something on my face?" I asked and I didn't really get the answer I was looking for since Harry already walked away without saying anything.

Rude.

"Hmm..." I hum before standing up myself and doing a little stretch in order to ease my body.

"Rosewood," Ron speaks up and I turn my head around, my attention fully towards the red haired boy.

"...can we talk?" He asks and we both stared at each other for a moment until I sighed and sat back down, crossing my arms as my half-lidded eyes bore into his surprised ones.

"Fine. What do you want?" I ask. Ron fiddles with his fingers for a moment, unsure of what he's going to say.

"Listen, I know I was a huge jerk to you at Halloween-" He starts and my mind wandered somewhere else, knowing where this conversation is going to go.

"Not just in Halloween though." I smile, interrupting Ron mid sentence. 

He wasn't really pleased with that based from his deadpan expression but he opened his mouth to continue nonetheless.

"-but I want to fix this; I don't want to keep my pride up when it's my fault." He says and I nod, understanding why he wants to 'fix' it since we're working together and if we're working together, we shouldn't be fighting unless we want things to be harder than it already is.

"So what made you change your mind then?" I ask, resting my head on the palm of my hand while staring at (Y/N) with an observational stare.

"...what do you mean?" He asks and I chuckle while doing some weird hand motion towards at the red haired boy sitting across me.

"You wouldn't normally apologize to me all of a sudden so why did you change your mind?" After clarifying my question, Ron blinks and looks away from me since he was somewhat embarrassed that he's apologizing to a Slytherin like me.

I mean, his expression says it all, really.

"Hermione really trusts you and is very comfortable around you and it seems like Harry is starting to warm up to you as well, talking and asking Hermione about some stuff about you." Ron trails off with his words while I grew confused when he mentioned Harry's name and what he's been doing.

"Harry's been doing that?" I ask, cocking my eyebrow up. Ron returns his gaze towards my eyes and nods as if what he just said to me is completely normal.

How weird of Harry to do that.

"As I was saying; I also started to change my mind back when Hermione told us that it was you who helped Harry from falling off of his broom during Quidditch. That's when I thought that you aren't... as bad as the other Slytherins..." Ron mumbles at the end of his speech which made me chuckle since it just looks adorable and the way he looks so flustered really adds it up.

"So I figured I should also have some faith in you... and I apologize if I offended you that Halloween..." The blush on his face becomes more evident the more he apologizes to me but not that I mind his flustered expression.

"If you do that again next time, I'm going to hex you without any hesitation, alright?" I half-joked and it seems like Ron caught up to it, chuckling as well and his tense and flustered expression faded into a more comfortable one.

"You got it, (Y/N)." He smiles, addressing me by my first name which felt weird at first but the more I looped it in my mind, the more comfortable I get.

At least I managed to solve a conflict this Christmas. How lovely.

»»----- ♡ -----««

It's nighttime and I was back in my room, doing some random harmless spells with my wand so my body could get used to me doing consecutive spells and expand my endurance and stamina when it comes to casting spells.

I noticed that it's the only problem that I have besides intelligence and strategy; that's Alem's ace up in his sleeve.

Since the three boys in the room are out of Hogwarts for Christmas, it was only me and Alem occupying this room and honestly, it feels like it's a room only meant for us twins even though it's only been half a day since the last person left the room to us.

Speaking of Alem, he's been hanging around in the common room since he feels like reading a book in our own room feels too bleak.

He prefers to read in a place like the library and the common room, if there aren't too many people, because it feels like he's 'not alone' or something like that.

Alem's reading a muggle book, The Little Mermaid written by the Brother Grimm's. It's been a while since I saw anything related to Disney and just seeing the title reminded me that I'm still in a dream and none of this is real.

The real world, where I originally belong to, still exists out there.

Honestly, I want to hear Alem's opinion of The Little Mermaid and if this is an alternate parallel universe to the real world, maybe I could show him the Disney version of The Little Mermaid and it's been released at 1989 and it's already 1991 so that's great.

Eventually, my mind trailed off to the first moments that I managed to get myself into when I got into this world;

I was confused and didn't know anything since I lost my memories of my real world when I came here. 

I didn't know that it was just a dream as if I just lost my entire identity, except my name, when I came here.

Then after that, I started to do some investigation by rummaging through my large bag that I used to carry my clothes although my luggage that's sitting right at the foot of my bed is a more convenient place to put my clothes in.

Since months have passed, I can't really remember anything else when I checked my bag but I do remember that odd love potion and that locked diary. 

Come to think of it, I did manage to bring that locked diary with me wherever I go and it's been in my school bag for months now.

I think I must've been in a hurry that I just thought that the diary was a text book and didn't pay any attention to it afterwards.

As for the potion, I don't really know where it went. 

I must've placed it somewhere in my drawer or in my luggage for all I know.

I placed my wand aside and went for my bag, pulling it closer to my lap as I sit at the edge of the bed.

I opened it and flipped through some books and some random notes but to my confusion and surprise, the diary is nowhere to be found.

I couldn't have misplaced it or could I? I only remember it being in my bag and nowhere else.

Frowning, I set my bag aside and walked over to my nightstand, pulling each drawer to see if my diary is there but to my confusion and disappointment, once more, it wasn't there.

I sighed and sat on my bed again, feeling disappointed that I couldn't find that wretched diary. 

I mean, it's the only other clue that I have to know what kind of life I, supposedly, have in this world.

Then again, the diary has a lock in it; I'll probably have a harder time trying to find out what the passcode is rather than finding it, to be honest.

Instead of trying to figure out where that diary is, my mind wandered to the whereabouts of that potion.

How is it that I was able to concoct a love potion at the age of 11? I mean, isn't that weird?

Plus the words "For Him" looks pretty obvious. If I made a love potion, I shouldn't be too obvious about what it is to other people.

I groan and whined for a moment since all these frustratingly mysterious thoughts keep ringing up in my head that it's starting to mess things up in my mind.

"Hey!" A voice snapped me out of my thoughts and I looked behind me to see who called for my attention.

I yelp and scoot back when I saw Erised's face close up to mine. 

The orange hoodie wearing person laughs and removes the lollipop from their mouth just as I was trying to calm myself down and regain my composure.

"You disappear for months and you come back in Christmas to try and give me a heart attack!?" I exclaim and slapped Erised's forearm.

Erised continued to laugh for a moment as I pout angrily, not taking their reaction quite well.

"What, did you miss me or something?" They laugh once more and I didn't reply, waiting for them to calm down and start to take things seriously for just a moment.

"Anyway, you seem to be quite troubled on the day before Christmas Eve." Erised smiles and crosses their legs on my bed as they tilt their head to their side as if they're acting all confused.

"What's the problem?" I sigh at their question and plopped myself on the bed, staring at the dark roof of my bed.

"Eri, why did you make me have a family here in this world?" My question didn't receive any immediate replies but I figured that Erised is trying to think of some plausible excuse for that.

I felt some movement on my bed and a small grumble coming from Erised's mouth.

"Isn't that what you want?" They ask and I rolled my eyes, seeing that they missed the point of my question.

"Thats not what I mean; I mean about all of this... stuff, me having a childhood friend and a family as if I have an actual past in this world." I sit up from my bed and stared at the wall, not facing Erised at all.

_"Is there something that you haven't told me, Eri?"_

»»----- ♡ -----««

I flip another page from my book and reading another passage as I did so.

It's amazing how muggles can have these wonderful ideas and turn them into a grim yet interesting stories. 

Of course, this story isn't exactly how mermen and mermaids behave considering that the mermaids in the Black Lake often ridicule us and are the embodiment of "evil" if I do say so myself.

Then again, they're muggles so what I did expect?

It's just interesting though since Ariel is going through multiple lengths just to meet the prince, whom she fell for.

Many people go through lengths just for their loved ones and Ariel is no exception. Love can make us do both wonderful and drastic things after all.

Just as I looked up to bring myself back to reality, I realized that I was the only one left in the common room.

The fire in the fireplace is slowly burning out and I could feel the chilling cold in the common room almost pierce through my skin.

I shuddered and bookmarked the page where I left off before shutting the book close and standing up from the sofa. 

I stood around the empty common room for a moment before walking over to the stairs to return to my room.

As I reached the door to my room, I placed my hand over to the door to knock, just in case (Y/N) is changing or doing something but before I could even fully knock, I heard voices inside the room.

One voice is from (Y/N) while the other is from someone who I don't recognize.

"...you want?" The other voice asks just as I pressed my ear to the door to listen closely and hopefully identify this unknown person in our room.

"That's not what I mean; I mean about all of this... stuff, me having a childhood friend and a family as if I have an actual past in this world." My face scrunched up in confusion when (Y/N) said that that I slightly leaned away from the door to recollect my thoughts and think if they really did just say that.

(Y/N) says that as if they're not from this world.

"Is there something that you haven't told me, Eri?" (Y/N) asks the person in our room named 'Eri'.

I don't recall someone named 'Eri' in our house or anyone in the castle for that matter.

Silence came from the other side of the room and I was growing tense, wanting to know what they're talking about already and that Eri person's reply.

"Yes but I don't think that this is the best time to tell you." Eri sighs as I hear some movement inside the room.

"What? Why not?" (Y/N)'s tone of disbelief, listening to their footsteps following Eri's silent ones.

"I don't want to keep messing things up by being here." Eri replied to my sister/brother in the most subtle way possible, making me feel confused and frown deeply since I can't find some answers.

"What do you-"

"Anyways, merry Christmas, (Y/N)." Eri cuts (Y/N) off and silence came from the other side of the room.

(Y/N) hasn't said anything except sighing and hearing their footsteps inside the room which made me think that Eri is gone.

But how? Did they just jump out of the window or something?

Since I can't find any answers by acting like a creepy stalker in front of my own dorm room, I take a step back and knocked three times before grabbing the doorknob and twisting it open.

As I gently opened the door with a small creaking sound from it, I peeked my head inside and see (Y/N) giving me a side smile from their bed.

That person, Eri, is nowhere to be found but the window is closed shut, as it's supposed to be.

It's like they just disappeared into thin air.

"You done reading?" They ask as I closed the door and walked over to my bed.

"Well, I was the only one left in the common room so I've decided to call it a day." I hear (Y/N) chuckling while I placed the book on the nightstand before dropping my body to my bed.

"You're saying that as if reading is a workout." (Y/N) stands up from their bed and grabbing their wand, flicking it around and creating small glowing sparks.

While they were doing this, I stared at their figure, who's practicing some minor spells with glinting observing eyes.

They're hiding something.

There's something more to this than just some random memory loss and I believe (Y/N) knows this as well.

But the question is; what?

What is it about (Y/N) that makes them suspicious?

With the way that they've been behaving since we got into Hogwarts, it seems like they're easy to fit in with others.

They even went as far as to befriend Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, Gryffindors who couldn't have had any business with them unless (Y/N) made it so that the two Gryffindors will have to interact with them.

(Y/N) feels like they both belong here but at the same time, they don't.

I narrowed my eyes as a chuckle escaped their lips, giving them a look of skepticism.

Just who are you?

I blinked and returned my eyes back to their normal glow, softening and removing all the negative looks I have for (Y/N).

There is something more to this but I know that (Y/N) will tell me soon enough.

They're my sister/brother and nothing in the world can change that. 

I trust them enough that I am willing to wait until they tell me what's really going on.

For now, just be a normal brother, Alem.

And pretend that everything is normal.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

It's Christmas Eve and I woke up with a strangely unnerving feeling as if something is going to happen today.

I'm not entirely sure what that is but I hope that it's just my overreacting mind speaking.

Today, I sat on the Gryffindor table and drank my daily morning apple juice, gulping the sweet drink down to my throat and feeling satisfaction as I leaned the rim of the glass away from my lips.

"Say, Rosewood," Fred says while taking a bite out of his jelly toast.

"Aren't you tired of drinking apple juice every single morning?" He continued and eyeing my half empty glass of apple juice with his face scrunched up in confusion.

I scoff and smirk, placing my glass down to the table.

"Why should I? It's one of the best morning energizers besides coffee!" I laugh before drinking it once more just to prove my point.

"I guess we know why Rosewood acts like a child sometimes." I hear George mumble to his twin brother and with my narrowed and slightly offended look, I slam my empty glass back to the table without actually breaking it.

"What's that supposed to mean?" The Weasley twins laugh at my question and reaction, saying that they don't mean anything about it but obviously, I don't believe them.

With a hmph, I grab myself a tart from a plate full of neatly arranged tarts and taking a bite out of it, savoring the sweet flavor the more I chewed.

The hoots of owls coming from the distance signal that our mail is here. I don't really expect any mail today since no one's going to send me anything or write a letter to me this Christmas.

I have, like, a small circle of friends so I highly doubt that either one of them is going to send me anything.

But to my surprise, two owls landed themselves in front of me and almost made me drop my tart.

They both have different colors and different packages so I assume that they were sent by two different people.

The question is; who could've sent them?

"Woah, you have presents, Rosewood." Fred gasps as I took the presents from the owls and patting their heads with a smile, hoping that they wouldn't act as aggressive as Walter.

"I wonder who sent me these, though." I mumble as I flipped the two presents to see if there are any cards or notes or something like that while the two owls who delivered these presents to me already flew away.

My eyes became half lidded and my expression turned into a deadpanned one when I saw that the first present came from Adrian Pucey with a small note on the bottom of the card saying;

**"I keep my promises! Thanks for doing the project! :)"**

With a small smiley face at the end of the note.

Thank Salazar, I wasn't scammed by this foul playing chaser otherwise, I would've told Professor Flitwick that he basically bribed me to do this project.

I mean, I also would've gotten in trouble for doing it anyway but at least Pucey's going down with me so that's okay.

I shake the present to hear the insides and there were wrapping sounds inside the present, making me assume that these are the Honeydukes candies that I asked for him.

The next present came from Draco, which was surprising because I didn't expect him to send me something back. 

Salazar, he just left yesterday; he was already able to find something to give to me?

Not that he needs to but it's just odd.

It wasn't as big as Pucey's and when I shook the present to hear the insides, I didn't hear anything except a faint sound of something light moving around the present when I shook it.

"Who's it from?" Ron, who just appeared out of nowhere or he was probably just sitting right beside me, piped up and almost peered from my shoulder if it wasn't for me scooting away from him because I was surprised at his sudden presence beside me.

"Malfoy and Pucey." I sigh and stacked Draco's present on top of Pucey's since his is bigger than Draco's.

"Pucey, that other Slytherin chaser?" Fred asks and I nod to confirm Fred's suspicions while finishing my tart off with a single bite.

I heard Ron grumble in annoyance when I said that it is Adrian Pucey, the Slytherin team's chaser.

I can understand his reaction; he did play dirty in the game by kicking one of the chasers in the Gryffindor team. 

To be honest, I was pissed as well.

"You seem to be quite close with Malfoy." George smirks and eyeing the present that Draco gave to me while I rolled my eyes and crossing my arms.

"We're not that close; we're just normal friends but that doesn't mean I like or encourage him treating other students like crap." Shrugging at my relationship with the Malfoy heir, I heard the Weasley twins chuckle at each other and I just looked at them with my eyebrow cocked up.

"Considering that you two are friends even after what he and his father did to your family during the Sacred Twenty-Nine meeting, you must be very forgiving." George states while I was left feeling very confused about what he just said.

_What meeting?_

_Sacred Twenty-Nine? First time I've heard of something like that._

"I... I guess so?" My answer came off as a question rather than a reply but George smiles as he shakes his head, probably taking it as nothing more than a reply.

"Your brother isn't too fond, as you are, of Malfoy though." Fred says while I just nod nervously, not knowing what to reply to this confusing situation.

"Wait, Sacred Twenty-Nine? I haven't heard of it." Ron piped up behind me and I silently praised the young eleven year old boy, taking this as an opportunity to know about this so-called meeting.

"Oh poor, Ron; our family is in the Sacred Twenty-Nine yet this is the first time he's heard of it." Fred chuckles and in the corner of my eye, I could see Ron rolling his eyes at what Fred said.

Well, if only he knew that I didn't know that our family is part of that rubbish too.

"Sacred Twenty-Nine are composed of families who have been purebloods for over a century; no muggleborns or half-bloods, just purebloods in the family." George explains and I blinked, learning what this Sacred Twenty-Nine thing is.

So that means our family, the Rosewood family, has been a line of pureblood witches and wizards?

Oh Merlin, please don't tell me that incest wasn't involved while trying to keep the blood purity in our family.

"And our family is part of the Sacred Twenty-Nine, I suppose?" Ron asks for further confirmation and on cue, Fred nods while resting his head on the palm of his hand.

"Yes, along with the Rosewood family and the Malfoy family." Fred adds awhile Ron hums, understanding things clearly now that his brothers have explained it to him while I have the same reaction as Ron internally.

I tried to make it seem like I know everything about it on the outside with my deadpan face but I am constantly trying to find answers in my head because I don't understand what's going on right now.

"But we didn't go to that meeting last year though; dad didn't want us to because he said that it's unnecessary." George says to clear up more things but it just added more questions in my head.

Like, how did they even know that the Malfoys mistreated us if they didn't go in the first place?

"We were filled in of what happened because of the Ministry, including the scene that the Rosewood and Malfoy family made." George adds and answered the question that I had in my mind, much to my relief, of course.

"And I only heard of what happened now? Why didn't you tell me?" Ron frowns at his older brothers with his arms crossed.

The Weasley twins looked at each other and chuckled at Ron's childish reaction while I'm just pouring myself another glass of apple juice while wondering where Harry is.

"Since when were you keen about things like this, Ronny?" Fred smirks, asking his younger brother. Ron stayed silent and only sighs through his nose, still not satisfied since he didn't get the answer that he wanted.

I already have mine so I don't really care anymore.

"Oh come to think of it, do you know where Harry is?" I turned to look at the red haired boy, who's expression softened when I drifted the topic of Sacred a Twenty-Nine away from him.

He looks up for a moment, as if thinking before he turned his attention back to me while shrugging.

"I think he might be in the library but I'm not too sure since when I woke up, he's already out of bed." Ron answers my question while I hum softly, turning away from the Weasley and drinking my apple juice to calm my thoughts while I'm getting small bits and pieces of my past in this other world I've been transported in.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

Afternoon passed by until the sky turned into a dark, endless stream of stars. 

The night sky along with the small fluttering snow falling from the clouds seemingly made the Christmas Eve night even more peaceful and charming in its on way.

(Y/N) stared out into the large window, watching the small snowflakes fall and smile softly with a sigh escaping their lips.

As they sighed, the heat from their mouth and the cold atmosphere around the castle condensed which makes it look like smoke is coming out of their mouth.

(Y/N), noticing this, brought their Slytherin scarf closer to their mouth with their hand while trying to keep the snacks that they stole from the Great Hall closer to their chest to prevent any of them from falling out.

They felt their nose becoming cold as well so they brought their scarf further up to their nose before skipping happily towards the dungeons where the Slytherin common room is located.

"Pureblood." (Y/N) addresses the password to the fat lady guarding the common room and walks through the entrance after the fat lady had granted them permission to enter by swinging the painting she resided in aside.

Climbing up to the stairs where their room is located, (Y/N) smiles while humming a Christmas song that they don't really memorize until they reached the door to their room.

"I brought the snacks!" The older Rosewood twin bursts through the door with a huge grin and a stack of sweets and desserts held on their small arms.

Alem looked up from his book and smiled when he saw (Y/N) being extremely happy when they entered the room.

The younger twin bookmarks the page where he left in before setting it aside to his bed, dusting off any dirt from his comfortable loose pants and his red oversized sweater.

"You're already cheerful even though it's not even Christmas yet." Alem chuckles while (Y/N) walks over to the spot where Alem sat and dropped the snacks, that they managed to grab in the Great Hall, on the floor.

"It's almost 12 anyway and I can't wait to open the presents that mum and dad got us!" (Y/N) jumped around happily like a little toddler while Alem just smiled, watching his older sister/brother being cheerful right before the clock strikes 12 to signal that Christmas has finally arrived.

"Well, mum placed a charm on it so we can't open it 'till Christmas so I get where you're coming from." He says and grabs a candy, specifically a Chocolate Frog, from the pile of snacks that (Y/N) brought for the two of them.

(Y/N) laughs and sat next to Alem after they've calmed down from all of their hype for Christmas.

The Rosewood twins talked to each other, eating sweets and snacks while laughing and smiling from the conversation and jokes that they're having.

Moments like these really makes (Y/N) think that this room is a shared room for them and Alem's without any other roommate to bother them.

They've always wanted a brother or even a sister so (Y/N) spending time with Alem, especially on a Christmas Eve night, really makes them happy and comfortable in this new world they're in.

As they kept talking, time kept ticking and eventually, the clock chimed from the common room, signaling that Christmas is already here.

The Rosewood twins stopped their conversation and immediately ran up to the makeshift Christmas tree that they made, which is basically only a damp branch stick that (Y/N) found outside in the snow, buried in a pot and transfigured into a medium sized pine tree.

Alem (discreetly) stole some Christmas lights from Filch's office and brought it over to their room to decorate the pine tree that he transfigured into.

(Y/N) did the rest by charming the pine tree to make it seem like snow is falling at the pine tree but the snow isn't soiling the floor or the tree or anything like that so its safe.

"You get way more presents than me." Alem pouts at the presents that (Y/N) pulled out from under the tree.

The older Rosewood twin sticks their tongue out towards Alem before taking the largest present that they have, which is from their parents.

As (Y/N) gently ripped the wrapper off, a black box can be seen amidst all of the Christmas wrapping around it.

When they removed all of the wrapper around the box, they pulled the lid of the box off and examined its contents with wide eyes.

Inside the box was a medium sized lunascope, the same item that Newt Scamander tried to bargain with Gnarlak.

They pick up the lunascope gently from the box and examined it closer.

It's bigger than a normal lunascope and (Y/N) didn't expect it to be slightly heavy the moment they grabbed it from the box.

The transparent ball at the end of the scope had a faint imagery of space, with the swirling and glowing dots that resembled like stars.

(Y/N) sighs in relief and brings the lunascope close to their chest, thankful that their mother had given them a lunascope for Christmas.

Although it is, somewhat, a common item in the wizarding world, they are still thankful because it is their first Christmas gift ever since they came here.

But partially because they are having trouble in Astronomy and moon charts aren't really doing it for them so a lunascope is very useful if they're going to do some work that's related to the moon.

"Well, it's expected of mum to give us something related to Astronomy and space; it is her best subject, after all." Alem laughs from beside (Y/N) and shows them a blanket that has the design of space with the planets that look like Mars, Jupiter and Saturn orbiting around the Sun.

The beautiful twist about this blanket is that the planets are really moving and the stars in the background are twinkling brightly as if they are trapped in the fluffy fabric.

"Merlin's beard, Alem! That's so beautiful and amazing!" (Y/N) gasped in amazement and leaned closer to the blanket, using their fingertips to stroke the blanket and laughs when they just felt the smooth fabric of the blanket.

Magic is a very wonderful thing, (Y/N) thought to themselves.

The other presents that (Y/N) received were from their so-called childhood friend named Zeke, their butler named Wallace, and their two housemates, Malfoy and Pucey.

Also, they also received a gift from Alem to which (Y/N) gave their brother a teasing smirk while Alem just looked away with a small blush of embarrassment.

Zeke's gift was a navy blue jacket with some handmade embroidered patches like a green leaf and a smiley face around the jacket.

A note came along with the present that said, **"I managed to get my parents to buy this jacket as my Christmas gift to you. I did all of the patch stitching... thing. Please do well on your studies! I'm looking forward to see you again this summer!"**

Wallace's gift was a two-way mirror, which (Y/N) was highly surprised about. Of course, they didn't know that it was a two-way mirror at first until they flipped the mirror around and read the note from Wallace.

**"Say my name and then look into the mirror, young mistress/master. I think you'll find that it is quite useful when you want to know what's happening in the manor."**

Of course, (Y/N) said his name in front of the mirror. Small sparks flew around the silver-lined mirror until the reflection had changed; not replicating the look that (Y/N) has on the glass item. 

Instead, what looks to be a ceiling that's painted with cold colors, such as blue, indigo and violet, is being reflected on the mirror. The ceiling was huge with a beautiful Wyatt chandelier hanging right at the center of the ceiling.

It seems like the chandelier isn't lit or on.

It took the older Rosewood twin to realize that it's a two-way mirror and they immediately placed it aside with the intentions of keeping it safe since it is going to be useful to them in the future.

Adrian Pucey's present was exactly what the (H/C) haired girl/boy had expected the moment the owl, that he used to send it to them, arrived.

It's the Honeydukes sweets and candies that (Y/N) listed out, on the day before the first Quidditch game of the season, to accept Adrian's request of doing his Charms project.

Sugar Quills, Chocoballs, Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans, Chocolate Wands and Fizzing Whizzbees are lined up and stacked inside the present, almost as if it's a box full of sweets.

(Y/N) scoffs and smirks playfully, closing the box where Adrian placed the sweets in before sliding it under their bed just in case they get hungry in the middle of the night while writing or doing something.

Alem's present was next and (Y/N) lightly nudged their brother, indicating that his present was next on the list.

The boy didn't do anything but blush slightly without sparing his sister/brother a glance as he kept on opening the presents that he received, including (Y/N)'s.

The older Rosewood's present for the young twin were... books. Simply books.

But the books that (Y/N) requested for Wallace to buy for Alem's present weren't really magical or anything of the sort; they were only muggle books like what Alem was reading just a few moments ago.

(Y/N) figured that books would be best for Alem since he does love fiction books and reading. Besides, they can't really think of anything else to give to Alem.

The books that (Y/N) sent to Alem was a five-book series named 'The Neverland's Promise'; a psychological, fiction, fantasy and thriller genre book. 

Alem would surely like it once he finishes The Little Mermaid since he does enjoy psychological and fantasy books.

(Y/N) opened Alem's present and saw, literally, the first electronic gadget that they've ever seen since they've got here in Hogwarts.

It's a Gameboy Color, in all its glory.

"Holy shi--"

"I want you to know that just because I managed to convince mum and dad to buy you a Gameboy for Christmas doesn't mean that you're going to play it everyday." Alem chuckles while grabbing the books that (Y/N) gave him, interest filling up in his (E/C) colored eyes when he read the small summary on the back of the book.

"If you're way too focused on that Gameboy, I'm going to take it away from you." Alem warned while (Y/N) nods, hugging their brother tightly and placing the Gameboy on the bed before glancing at the last present that they have.

The last present is from Draco and they were confused when they opened the small present that they received from the Malfoy heir.

It's a necklace that resembled those couple necklaces that you often see when you go to town. 

Except this necklace isn't cute or anything and honestly, it seems like one of those dark items that wizards and witches buy in Knockturn Alley.

(Y/N), of course, examined the necklace further; eyeing the shiny green jewel embedded at the center of the necklace with gold lining up around the jewel. 

The green jewel seems to be split in half as it has noticeable cracks in the left side of it.

When (Y/N) unhooked the lock of the necklace and wore it around their neck, they felt a small stinging sensation around the back of their neck.

(Y/N) winced for a little while and thought if its just the hook piercing through their neck as the pain subsided after a second.

Conveniently, the jewel started to glow faintly but since it's very faint, (Y/N) hadn't noticed it even doing something and felt odd but happy that Draco gave them something, at least.

(Y/N) examined the small box to see if the platinum blonde haired boy left any notes but unsurprisingly, they didn't see any notes.

After the Rosewood twins finished opening their presents, (Y/N) arranged their presents and left it lined up in their bed, except the necklace since they didn't bother to take it off for now.

There were two unopened presents underneath their makeshift Christmas tree and those presents belongs to Harry and Ron, which (Y/N) hadn't given yet.

"Hey, Alem. I'm going to send these presents over to the two Gryffindors so can you handle the fort while I'm gone?" (Y/N) grabbed the presents and stacked them on top of each other while Alem nods without looking up from his Little Mermaid book.

The (H/C) haired girl/boy rolled their eyes before stepping out of the room and out of the common room through the huge crack that they need to pass through.

Once (Y/N) is fully out of the common room, the huge crack from the wall closed itself but not fully, only leaving a small, bare stretch from the wall to indicate that the entrance of the common room is there.

"I bet the paintings are having some sort of a Christmas celebration right now." (Y/N) chuckles before trotting their way towards the Gryffindor common room, careful not to walk on the wrong set of moving staircases unless they wanted to get lost.

(Y/N) thought that curfew wouldn't be a problem on a Christmas night since it's... Christmas so they just walked with their loud footsteps echoing around the almost empty castle at midnight.

Once (Y/N) arrives at the entrance of the Gryffindor common room, the fat lady sits there while eating some random food and reading a book placed on her lap.

When the fat lady noticed an unfamiliar student standing in front of her with two presents stacked up on each other, she placed her food down and eyed (Y/N) skeptically.

"Who are you?" The fat lady asked while (Y/N) smiles nervously, holding up the presents.

"I'm really sorry to disturb you from... eating your food and reading your book but I'm just here to drop off these gifts for Harry Potter and Ron Weasley." They explain but the fat lady is having none of it when she recognized who's standing right before her.

"You're a Rosewood, aren't you? A Slytherin?" The fat lady's eyes narrowed when she confirms that it is (Y/N) Rosewood due to the (H/C) hair and (E/C) eyes.

"I'm afraid I cannot let you in; nobody from other houses are allowed to enter a common room that isn't their own." The fat lady says while (Y/N) grumbles in disappointment, shoulders slumping as they stared up at the skeptical fat lady guarding the Gryffindor common room.

"Can't you, at least, bring someone out to take these presents? If they're still awake?" (Y/N) hopefully and desperately asks but the fat lady sighs in annoyance, giving (Y/N) a harder glare that said, 'go away'.

"I told you; I cannot-"

"(Y/N)? What are you doing out here?" Harry's voice caused (Y/N) and the fat lady to turn around and see who's still awake at this hour.

(Y/N) gasps in relief while the fat lady grumbles in annoyance since there's a student who's currently out in the castle during midnight. 

Of course, it's Christmas and there are no classes but still, she doesn't want anyone to disturb her nightly breaks. This is why she often goes out at night to hang out with the other paintings.

 _Merlin, these students are annoying_ , the fat lady thought.

"Harry! I was about to drop these off to the common room but I can't get inside." (Y/N) smiles nervously, awkward that they just said that the presents, that were supposed to be for Harry and Ron, is right before the eyes of the person who they're supposed to drop it off to.

Harry's green eyes glanced up to the two presents and saw his name in the card on the present that's on top of the second one. 

He was surprised, to say the least but felt happy that he gets a present from someone.

Harry stared at the (H/C) haired girl/boy for a moment before stepping in front of them and leaning closer to the fat lady, mumbling the password 'Caput Draconis'

"Don't worry, they're with me." Harry assures the fat lady, who hesitated on letting the two of them entering the common room, especially if there's a Slytherin accompanying a Gryffindor but once she saw Harry nodding in reassurance once more, she slides her painting to the side to reveal the Gryffindor common room.

Harry beckons for his Slytherin friend to follow him, which (Y/N) did enthusiastically since they've never been in the Gryffindor common room personally.

The common room is empty and it's only the two of them but it's still bright and all the lights are open, bringing the welcoming atmosphere of the Gryffindor common room to the Slytherin that stepped a foot in it.

Maybe it's because the Slytherin common room is gloomy and dark so the lights and the change of atmosphere really overwhelmed (Y/N).

"Quite a wonderful common room, Gryffindor." (Y/N) chuckles as they looked around in amazement while Harry just stared at their bewildered figure through the lenses of his round glasses.

"Where do I put these?" They finally asked after they were done looking around as they adjusted the presents in their arms.

Harry points at the large Christmas tree of the common room, that also had presents underneath it. 

The raven haired boy never really bothered to check the presents if he has any since he already expects that he'll never receive one, anyway.

"These are for you and for Ron. You should open it tomorrow morning, though." (Y/N) walks over to the Christmas tree and places the presents underneath it, adding another collection to Harry and Ron's presents.

"You've got a present for me?" Harry asks, still surprised that (Y/N) thought of giving him a present.

"Of course, why shouldn't I give you one? It's Christmas, after all." The Slytherin smiles in confusion at the Gryffindor behind them.

"Isn't Christmas all about giving things and all that?" (Y/N) stretches their body after they placed the presents underneath the Christmas tree. 

Harry pursed his lips, blushing softly as (Y/N) said that. He can't deny; they're right but it's still weird for him since he's already gotten used to not having anything in Christmas.

He doesn't even get anything on his birthdays.

"What's wrong, Harry?" (Y/N) asks, noticing Harry's weird behavior as they placed their arms to their side.

"It's just..." Harry paused for a moment, staring at their confused yet happy (E/C) eyes. 

"I've never really gotten presents before." He admitted and (Y/N) immediately frowned, remembering that the Dursley's never really treated him as if he was part of their family. 

Harry's parents died before he even met them so he doesn't know what its like to have an actual family.

(Y/N) sympathized with the raven haired boy as they only felt the warmth of having a family when their mother hadn't left them. 

Now, they're left with an empty feeling and constantly trying to sought out the lost 'love' that they desperately want to feel again after being alone for years.

Their father was a douchebag and never considered him as 'family' either.

To them, that man was nothing more than just a sperm donor and would gladly watch him die in vain in the distance.

"What about the family where you're staying in?" (Y/N) asked to make themselves less suspicious. They could see Harry's green eyes narrowing and glinting with anger when (Y/N) asked that.

"...That's not my family." Harry spitefully says and (Y/N) gets where he's coming from without having to ask him. 

"Your parents died when you were born, right?" The Slytherin almost cringed internally when they asked an awkward question but decided to ask it anyway since they couldn't think of something else to say.

Harry nods solemnly, the idea of his parents entering his mind once more and missing them although he hasn't met them personally.

(Y/N) stays silent for a moment before taking a seat at the sofa, feeling immense embarrassment as a small blush spreads across their face. 

Harry looked confused as to why (Y/N) is blushing but he, too, blushed when (Y/N) pats the empty spot beside them as if they were beckoning for him to sit down as well.

(Y/N) only felt the need to do this because they really sympathized with Harry and want to cheer him up in Christmas.

I mean, it is Christmas and no frowns should be seen in front of the (H/C) haired girl/boy.

Harry obliged hesitatingly as he sat down awkwardly beside (Y/N). The two didn't say anything for a while until (Y/N) spoke up first.

"You can tell me about it." Harry turned to look at (Y/N) with a look of surprise. 

"...You must really miss your parents, don't you?" And with this one question, Harry's tears unconsciously seeped out of his eyes.

It wasn't until he felt the warm tears trickling through his cheeks as he brought his hand up to his face.

"...I really miss them." Harry croaked out, looking down and hastily wiping out the tears since he feels like it's shameful to just cry in front of someone because of something like this.

(Y/N) pursed their lips in embarrassment once more as they glanced over beside them to see Harry wiping his tears.

They didn't need to ask Harry any more questions about his life, not because they already know everything but because, if you have any common sense, you'd know that Harry is having trouble with his so-called family and he doesn't like being there.

"Look, Harry... I know that this family of yours is treating you badly and I know that me, comforting you, wouldn't solve anything miraculously," (Y/N) starts, turning their body fully towards Harry while grabbing his hands which makes him look up to the Slytherin with puffy green eyes.

"But, I want to let you know that we're always here for you; me, Hermione and Ron." They smile at Harry, who's still looking at them while tears are pouring out of his eyes since he couldn't stop them.

"Hogwarts is your family now; we are your family. We'll make sure that you'll never be alone or be treated badly ever again." (Y/N) sternly states as their grip on the raven haired boy's hands tightened by the end of their words.

Harry's eyes twinkled appreciatively as he stared at (Y/N)'s determined look, really making Harry think that (Y/N) means it from the bottom of their heart.

This particular Slytherin really changed Harry's point of view and not all of the Slytherins have dark or evil motives, as Ron said during the Sorting Ceremony.

Which made him think,

If he was sorted in Slytherin, would things have went differently for him when (Y/N) became his housemate?

"You know, my mother often used to sing this song to me before I went to sleep." They said and this made Harry's attention return back to (Y/N) as he snapped out of his thoughts for the (H/C) haired girl/boy.

"She sings me lullabies but this one is what she sung often." (Y/N) chuckles, remembering the bittersweet memories of their mother singing them the lullaby to them as they went to bed.

Harry felt envious of (Y/N) as he heard them say that since he's never gotten anyone to sing him a lullaby before.

"Do you want to hear it?" The Slytherin smiles, hoping that this song would give him extra comfort. 

The raven haired boy blinked in surprise for the sudden offer but since he already trusts the Slytherin in front of him, he began to think about it.

Harry paused for a moment until he nodded and laid his head to (Y/N)'s lap, looking up to the surprised and slightly flustered Slytherin, who didn't expect for him to just sleep on their lap like that.

"My... voice isn't the greatest so I have to warn you." (Y/N) jokes with a chuckle but Harry rolled his eyes with a smile curled up on his lips.

"But, it should be better than Ron trying to sing the Hogwarts song." Harry replied and (Y/N) shrugs in agreement, no offense to the red haired boy.

None of them said a word until (Y/N) took a deep breath and opened their mouth.

**_Cast away your worries, my dear  
_ ** **_For tomorrow comes a new day,_ **

Harry took a big gulp of air as the sweet, melodic voice of the Slytherin filled his delicate ears. He couldn't believe what he was hearing; it was angelic and a singing voice that he wouldn't be able to hear from anyone else.

Through his large round glasses, he stared up to (Y/N) singing their mother's lullaby with their eyes closed and a smile as they sung with their heart out.

It was absolutely breathtaking that the Gryffindor felt his heart skip a beat to the tune of the lullaby.

**_Hold to me; you've nothing to fear,  
For your dreams are not far away_ **

(Y/N) hummed softly as they finished singing the first verse while Harry's heart thumped rapidly in both excitement and astonishment for the (H/C) haired girl/boy.

He could definitely feel his cheeks burning up the more he keeps his eyes glued onto (Y/N)'s face but he can't look away. He just can't do it.

**_As you lay your head and you rest,  
May your dreams take over, my love_ **

The Gryffindor's blush deepened when he heard (Y/N) address him as 'love' even though it's just a lyric from the song. 

_Oh, wouldn't it be lovely if (Y/N) really did address him as 'love', though?_ Harry's thoughts began to swirl and irrationality is starting to invade in his delicate, developing mind.

**_Listen close, my child of the west,  
For your destiny lies above;_ **

(Y/N) takes another deep breath before continuing, not opening their eyes to even glance down at Harry, who's already feeling lovestruck at every second where (Y/N)'s singing voice resonates within his soul and his beating heart.

**_Though the world is cruel, there's a light that still shines,  
In the darkest days of our lives._ **

Eventually, Harry thought back to the possibility of his mother singing this to him if she was still alive as he thinks about the lyrics of the lullaby.

But he immediately brushed those thoughts away as his mind wanted him to focus more on the (H/C) haired girl and that those thoughts are i̙͙͍̝̖͖̳ͤ͂̕͠͞r̯̤̞̹͔ͮ̆͊ͣ̽̃̂͝ȑ͎͍̱̺͚̗̳̟̆̀ͧ͑͐̋ͩ͢ȩ̢͔̣̞̗̓ͫ̋̽ͭ͑l͔̼̺̈́̐͌̒̄̎͜͢e̛ͧ̾ͪ͆̋̾ͧ͆҉̞̯ͅv̵̺̽ͫ̑̄̿̎͝å̛̱̟̥̼̍ͨ̾̄n̰͈͎̭̻̿ͭͦͧͨ͜t͉̙͉̪̹͋̿ͫ in moments like this.

**_When all hope seems lost and you can't find your way,  
Think of me as you look to the sky_ **

The notes that (Y/N) delicately hit at the end of the verse only made Harry's heart beat faster, his attachment for the Slytherin growing at an alarmingly fast rate.

He felt the need to protect them from any harm, no matter the cost.

What is this feeling?

Is this... love?

**_Child of mine, your future is bright,  
For your father's blood's in your veins_ **

(Y/N) took another deep breath as they opened their eyes and finally glanced down at the now drowsy Harry Potter, laying on their lap.

Even with Harry's eyes becoming half-lidded as sleep is starting to take over his body, he could still see the gracious smile that they blessed him with before he could close his eyes and drift off into his dream world.

**_In dark times, I pray you will fight,  
For the world will soon know your name_ **

As the Slytherin finished the lullaby, Harry's breath has completely been taken away as the curse seeped into his soul and grabbed his heart, only filling it with the dark thoughts of (Y/N).

If this is, indeed, love that Harry is experiencing then this must be a very bliss emotion. He's never felt his emotions becoming this strong before.

The raven haired boy smiles in relief, finding a new purpose in his life and swears to himself to protect the only other person who's important to him.

He's already lost his parents.

He's not going to lose (Y/N).

_Ever._

»»————- ♡ ————-««

I watched as Harry dozed off to sleep with a light snore. I found it adorable and I'm glad that I was able to comfort him on Christmas.

I'd like to this of this as an extra Christmas gift for him.

He slept with his glasses on so I gently removed his large round glasses from his eyes and set them to the table that's in front of the sofa.

I took the liberty to run my fingers through his messy, raven hair for a moment just to get a feel of his slightly rough hair before gently grabbing the back of his head and gently dropping it on the sofa as I stood up with a smile.

"Merry Christmas, Harry." I whisper before walking out of the Gryffindor common room, feeling refreshed as ever that I even ignored the fat lady's words of complaint as I stepped out, saying that I disturbed her reading session.

I'm sure that Harry will be more of a close friend to me after this. I want to help him in any way I can with my power and I'll make sure to keep my promise.

Christmas is a very wonderful holiday, I thought to myself with a chuckle and realized that the unnerving feeling I had this morning when I woke up was just me overreacting.

Nothing bad particularly happened today so I don't know why I felt that way.

I brushed those thoughts away with my chest raised proudly as I walked my way back to the Slytherin common room.

**»»————- ♡ ————-««**

**A/N:**

**Lmao, I suck at writing Yandere scenes. Tell me more about that.**

**Ah, (Y/N). You're so great at jinxing yourself; wonder if you can say the same thing at your 5th year.**

**So hey, if you guessed that Harry is the next "contender" this chapter then you get yourself a free cookie from Dumbledore.**

**If you guessed Ron or Hermione or *cough* Alem *cough*, then you get a consolation prize of a random jellybean flavor from Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans.**

**To anyone who asks, the song is "Inuyasha's Lullaby" and the lyrics are from Lizz Robinett. Please check her out because her voice is, literally, like an angel's and she's a very wonderful singer.**

**I don't really know what to say next so I'll just leave it here lol**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter :V**


	14. I - XIII:「Desires of Change」

**❝If you've done something wrong, don't worry;**   
**I'll still love you either way.❞**

**»»————- ♡ ————-««**

When I woke up this Christmas morning, I vaguely remembered the things I did last night until I blinked my eyes and fully remembered everything yesterday.

It was Christmas Eve yesterday and the presents I received were immediately opened at the midnight strike of 12. 

I was very excited but I didn't regret it; I had a lot of fun last night.

Since I don't have any presents left to open, I went to take a bath and dressed myself by wearing a green jacket with a dirty white t-shirt underneath.

I also wore black sweatpants and some random white slippers because I don't want to bother using sneakers or shoes when I'm probably going to be in the castle for the whole day.

I tried to look for Alem's green slippers but it was nowhere to be found which left me disappointed because he probably used it.

I was about to walk out of the room until I realized I forgot to wear that green necklace Draco gave me as my Christmas present. 

Closing the door, I walked towards my nightstand and grabbed the necklace before wearing the accessory around my neck. 

The pinch-like pain that I felt last night when I wore the necklace for the first time didn't come which made me think that it was just the hook on the necklace accidentally piercing through my skin.

I observed myself in front of the mirror for a moment before I stepped out of the room and out of the Slytherin common room, tucking both of my hands on the pockets of my sweatpants.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

My back was pressed gently on the couch, feeling the relief course through my body as I stared out of our large stationary window in our living room while my fingertips were playing with the green bejeweled necklace that is hanging neatly from my neck.

Another feeling of relief coursed through my veins once I felt the other half of the necklace being worn as the (H/C) haired girl/boy's whereabouts became more clear in my head.

Of course, I couldn't physically see where they are but from the connections of the two necklaces made me capable of knowing where they are from (Y/N)'s thoughts.

Unfortunately, I'm not able to read their thoughts from this necklace though I wish I could.

This is necessary; if I do love someone, shouldn't I try my best to protect them and know if they're doing fine or not? 

Besides, this is only temporary so I will break this necklace once I'm over with this 'love' rubbish. 

It's such a convenience that my mother and I strolled through Diagon Alley to find some things that we need to buy for Christmas though I do think that celebrating this holiday is absolutely unnecessary in our part.

I found this 'couple' necklace in a random accessory shop in Diagon Alley and just from the witch, who owned the shop, explaining how the necklace works made me want to buy it.

Secretly.

"Draco?" My mother called from the door which slightly startled me, considering that I'm so focused on trying to figure out where (Y/N) is right now.

They're in the Great Hall right now, probably eating breakfast and all that.

"Yes, mother?" I stood up from my seat, hiding the necklace by inserting it inside my shirt. I don't want my mother to ask me questions about the necklace.

As I turned around, I saw her smiling at me from the doorway. I felt weird about it but didn't say anything until she spoke up.

"Breakfast is ready." She says while removing her hand from the doorknob. I hum in acknowledgement and arranged my clothes, making sure that they're somewhat straight.

"Your father and I have presents for you." My mother says before walking away and leaving me to my own devices for a second.

The room was silent again but I didn't mind since it's making me retreat back to my own thoughts reserved only for the eldest daughter/son of the Rosewood family. 

I want to be with them.

I've only been away from the castle for a day but the missing presence of the (H/C) haired girl/boy is already draining me and exhausting me to the point that I just want to skip ahead of time when we are supposed to come back to Hogwarts.

I cannot, exactly, trust (Y/N) to be left alone since Potter and Weasley are also staying in the castle for Christmas.

What if Potter or Weasley does something to (Y/N)?

I need to be there for them.

Although this necklace is only for me to know their whereabouts, it's not enough; I need to physically be there.

My frantic thoughts almost caused a loud static noise in my head but I blinked my silver eyes and returned myself back to reality.

I shook my head, trusting (Y/N) since they wouldn't attempt to break my heart in any way as I walked out of the living room and to the dining room.

Don't worry, Draco.

You'll be fine and this will work out in the end.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

"You want me to what?" (Y/N)'s cocked their eyebrow up in confusion as they stared at Harry, who seems to be blushing profusely with his lips pursed nervously and his green irises staring back at (Y/N)'s (E/C) ones.

"If... it's not too much trouble, of course. I just need someone to accompany me." Harry stammered and felt his heart beat faster the more (Y/N) keeps their silence up.

He's afraid that they'll say no but of course, this is for the sake of knowing what Fluffy is guarding in the third floor.

(Y/N) will help in any way they can.

"No, it's not much trouble but I'm just a little bit surprised." (Y/N) chuckles nervously, rubbing the back of their head which Harry found quite cute.

"Why are you surprised?" Harry asked, tilting his head to the side.

"Well, I expected you to ask Ron instead of me. I mean, you two are housemates after all." (Y/N) replied, shrugging while keeping their eyes away from the raven haired boy.

Harry understood what they meant and only nodded while tucking both of his hands inside his pockets. 

He was still blushing softly as he kept his green eyes towards (Y/N), admiring every single one of their features.

"Besides, you don't really seem to be that fond of me when it comes to arguments about Fluffy and all of that stuff." (Y/N) laughs, still finding Harry's decision of wanting to come with them to be weird.

Harry straightened up and felt guilty for always calling them out for their 'misconceptions' about the Fluffy situation. 

He always believed that he was right about this but now that he began to have affections for the young Slytherin, it was all thrown out the window and takes back all of the things that he had said about (Y/N).

Though, somewhere in his mind, he does still believe that he is right about his conclusions and that it is Snape who's trying to get past that dog.

"You're more equipped and ready when it comes to this." Harry said, still not ready to apologize to (Y/N) for his opinions since its still not sure if what he said or what (Y/N) said is true.

He is staying true to his thoughts.

"Well, how are we going to sneak out tonight? To the Restricted Section?" They asked as they started to walk in order to discuss this privately somewhere else. 

Harry, who had gotten the hint, also began to walk beside (Y/N) and kept himself in a close proximity to the Slytherin girl/boy with their hands almost touching each other.

"You don't have to worry about that; I got... an invisibility cloak as a Christmas present this morning. I don't know who sent it though." Harry explains, darting his eyes downward where his knuckles, that wasn't covered by his pockets, are almost touching (Y/N)'s.

He had the urge to grab their hand for protection and safety but immediately retracted the idea once the Slytherin girl/boy also placed both of their hands inside their pockets, shivering slightly from the chilly air that wafted through the hallway.

"An invisibility cloak? Aren't those rare?" (Y/N) cocked their eyebrow up and asked, trying to make themselves less suspicious if they show too much reaction since they already know everything.

"Ron also said that but I'm not really aware of the rarity of certain magical items." Harry mumbled in embarrassment since he is talking next to someone who has more magical knowledge than he does.

I mean, come on, he literally just found out that he was a wizard at the age of 11. 

If it wasn't for Hagrid coming to clear things up for him, he would've stayed as a slave to the Dursleys for another 7 years.

And beside him is a child prodigy from a pureblood wizard family. If he wasn't mistaken, Harry had heard from Ron that (Y/N) and Alem's family is part of the Sacred Twenty-Nine, a group of wizarding families that have stayed as purebloods for the last century or probably even more.

(Y/N) had everything about magic taught for them since they were born along with their brother. 

It'd be embarrassing if Harry had said something wrong about magic in the presence of those two, especially since he likes one of them.

"You don't have to worry about not being aware of that kind of things." They said, acknowledging Harry's discomfort and sudden meekness.

"You don't, necessarily, have to know everything about magic right now, especially since you're just starting out... if you know what I mean." (Y/N) cringed internally at how badly they're phrasing their own words but nonetheless, Harry understood what they meant and his affection for them is just growing every second.

"Like, you can start to think about that kind of stuff as you stay here in Hogwarts. We're still first year students and although some students have been born with magical knowledge, it's important to remember that we still have a lot to learn ourselves so we're really no different from you, Harry." Their modern dialect slightly slipped out from their lips but it wasn't really what Harry paid attention to;

It was the fact that they're actually reassuring him, making Harry have this false delusion that (Y/N) deeply cares for him in a romantic way.

"T-Thanks." Harry stutters as he gave (Y/N) a soft smile of gratitude. The Slytherin smiles back, welcoming the Gryffindor before they returned their topic back to the plan for tonight.

Harry insisted that he will come to pick (Y/N) up from the Slytherin common room but (Y/N) knew and realized that he doesn't know where it is until the Christmas of the second year. 

Since they didn't want the idea of Harry slightly changing things up in the second year, they compromised and said that they would be the one to go to the Gryffindor common room since they already knew where it was from last night.

Sure, they might still be allowed to be out of bed after curfew since there aren't any classes but they're not allowed to go to restricted areas around the castle so they can't just waltz around without getting caught in the Restricted Section of the Library.

Harry didn't like the idea but knew that (Y/N) would be a difficult one to insist, especially if their mind is set on something. 

He was just worried that one of the professors might catch them and if they mess up, (Y/N) wouldn't have an alibi since they were the last student that they saw out of bed.

The possibility of other students being out of bed after curfew is likely but certainly not impossible for them to frame (Y/N).

But the Gryffindor thought back to the moments that include life threatening situations; out of all of them, (Y/N) is the most methodical and cautious one. 

They regain their composure easily and has an aptitude for predicting certain things.

If there's anyone who would easily get caught between the two of them, it would be Harry.

So with a little bit of disagreements, arguments and a trip to the snowy courtyard of the castle, the two have decided that (Y/N) will be the one who's going to come and pick Harry up from the Gryffindor common room's entrance but not too close to the entrance that the fat lady will notice (Y/N) and then give a huge sermon as to why they're there again.

Harry frowned, still wanting to insist but sighed in defeat since he can't do anything else other than go with it and think for (Y/N)'s safety tonight.

"Listen, we're going to do some detective work and uncover some dark mysteries at midnight so you better not be late, Harry Potter." The Slytherin cocks their eyebrow up confidently while pointing their finger towards the Gryffindor in front of them with their hand on their hip.

Harry chuckled at (Y/N)'s weird behavior, still finding them adorable even with the weird modern dialect and the way that they act to others as if they were a fully grown adult.

"I think I'm the one who should be worried, considering that you don't always tend to be punctual." Harry rolled his green eyes playfully as he brought his Gryffindor scarf up to his mouth, feeling the cold breeze pass him by and chilling him down to his skin.

(Y/N) was about to say something since they were slightly attacked by Harry's words but immediately backed down as the cold winter breeze made them shiver and hastily pulled their green jacket closer to their body, pursing their lips.

They exhaled and smoke came out of their mouth, condensing with the chilly winter air along with their hot breath.

"Holy f...udge, that's cold!" (Y/N) bit back as they almost cussed in front of Harry. 

Cussing isn't really considered to be a normal thing here and they always either replace it with 'Merlin's beard' or 'Bloody hell' which is one of Ron's classic lines.

Being a millennial and someone who was raised in a household where cussing is like a lifestyle, (Y/N) almost found themselves accidentally cursing or nearly cursing in front of their peers.

And they know that they have to tone it down unless they want a week's worth of detention from Professor Snape and providing discomfort for other students in the process.

Hell, even the seventh year students don't cuss.

Harry took notice of (Y/N)'s shivering form almost instantly and began to place his hands around the hem of his Gryffindor scarf, ready to offer it to the girl/boy in front of him.

"You didn't bring your scarf with you?" Harry frowned as he walked towards (Y/N), worry written all over his childish features.

"I d-didn't t...t-think it was n-necessary." (Y/N)'s shivering voice and slightly chattering teeth almost made them impossible to speak and understand. 

Harry didn't need to, he just knows that they're very cold right now.

How did they even end up here in the courtyard when they were just in a random hallway a few minutes ago?

Harry sighs and gently removes his Gryffindor scarf from his neck before raising it over to (Y/N)'s head, that already had a little bit of snow on it.

(Y/N), who noticed Harry offering his scarf, waved their hands around to decline Harry's offering with their cheeks already red and flushed from the cold air hitting their skin.

They look like they've gotten a cold.

"N-No, Harry, it's fine! I'm u-used to the cold! I can g-get over-"

"Just take it, will you?" Harry shushed the stammering girl/boy, gently wrapping the scarf around their neck with a heavy blush tinting his cheeks that it puts (Y/N)'s flushed cheeks to shame.

The Slytherin looked down to the ground in embarrassment as they felt Harry's fingers touch their neck and a portion of their green necklace a few times while he was wrapping the scarf around their neck.

(Y/N) couldn't find it in themselves to thank Harry, not being able to find the words since the moment is just both overwhelming and weird for them to comprehend. 

It looks like one of those romance scenes that (Y/N) thinks only happens in movies.

It's odd, to say the least.

"I didn't notice that necklace before." Harry glanced over at the green jeweled necklace that (Y/N) wore, almost narrowing his eyes at it since he felt something strange after seeing it.

"Oh, this?" (Y/N) exhales softly, feeling a little bit better from the warmth that Harry's scarf emitted from their neck. 

They lifted the accessory up for Harry to see in a closer look.

"I got it from Draco. This was his Christmas present for me." Harry frowned at (Y/N)'s words and also felt bad that he wasn't able to get them a Christmas present, even though he has enough money in his pockets for that.

He couldn't help but feel a slightly bad aura emitting from that necklace though, almost as if he wanted to rip it out of their neck and destroy it.

"From Malfoy?" Harry asked and (Y/N) nodded while lowering their necklace again before flickering their eyes up to the saddened gaze of the Gryffindor.

(Y/N) cocked their eyebrow up in confusion, noticing Harry's saddened expression.

"What are you so sad about?" They asked with a small smirk.

"It's just... I haven't gotten you anything for Christmas." Harry's frown deepened as he sat down at the nearby bench, not even bothering to remove any snow that fell on the bench.

(Y/N) scoffs, finding Harry's reason to be quite ridiculous, before removing any snow from the bench and taking a seat beside Harry.

"Come on, Harry. You know that it's fine if you don't give me anything in return. I'm not that kind of person." (Y/N) laughs, swinging their small legs since they're short and their feet are barely touching the snowy ground of the courtyard.

"I still wish I gave you something in return though; you already gave me so much this Christmas." Harry bash fully rubbed the back of his neck as he exhaled softly, feeling a little bit cold from the weather that they're having.

"You don't have to." (Y/N) smiles, patting Harry's shoulder before rising from their seat and dusting off any dirt and snow from their rear end.

"If spending Christmas with you, Alem and my other friends is all that I can get this Christmas, then that's more than enough." They added with a huge grin stretching from their face, making the raven haired boy stare up to (Y/N) with an admirable look and another set of heavy blush tinting his, almost pale, cheeks.

"I'll be returning to my room. See you later, Harry." (Y/N) already waved goodbye, pulling the Gryffindor scarf up to their lips, before Harry could even return the gesture and back to his senses.

It was only when (Y/N) was already gone from his sight, that he snapped back to reality and burying his flustered face inside his small hands.

"I wonder what's gotten into me today..." Harry mumbled and with a groan, he leaned back and rested his head at the rim of the head of the bench with his hands still covering his face out of embarrassment.

"But... they really do look wonderful and with that Gryffindor scarf..." He silently screeched, imagining (Y/N) as a Gryffindor and started to think of how much time he could spend with them together if they were sorted in Gryffindor instead.

"The only problem is that necklace." He recalled back to the moment where he touched the necklace briefly from his neck. 

Harry was able to feel a little bit of magic emitting from that necklace but he wasn't sure what.

Although he is still young and doesn't understand what magic is quite yet, he is sure that the necklace is imbued with magic. 

The fact that it came from Draco, only both infuriated and made Harry skeptical as to why that platinum blonde haired boy gave something like that to (Y/N).

"Maybe I should do something about that." Harry monotonously said, leaning away from his position before standing up from his seat and looking up to the dark, snowy sky.

Unknowingly, Harry smiled since there is finally something he could protect, something important that he doesn't want to lose ever again, like his parents. 

Christmas finally meant memorable to him since he got something he could treasure forever.

A gift.

And that gift is something that Harry wouldn't dare to lose from Voldemort or anyone else, ever again.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

"W-W-Wha...!" I stammered, blushing heavily while looking at the two presents that Alem held on both of his hands. 

My brother had a teasing smirk stretched on his lips which slightly irked me but that thought was immediately pushed away since all I could think of was the present that Alem held on his right hand.

"Yes," Alem nods in confirmation. "Cedric Diggory actually gave you a Christmas present." And with that, the blush on my cheeks became more red than Ron's hair or any from the Weasley family.

I couldn't find any words since I didn't actually expect Cedric to give me anything, much less a Christmas present.

Salazar, we haven't even interacted physically so how could he just give me one?

"I guess all that stalking that you did really paid off, huh?" He laughed while I just gave him a glare, telepathically telling him to watch his mouth with my eyes.

Alem rolled his eyes playfully from my threatening glare but didn't remove his smirk from his mouth.

"The other one is from Neville Longbottom." Alem says, lifting up the present on his left hand. I didn't even expect Neville to give me a present.

It was smaller than Cedric's but I still appreciate it.

"I should really thank both of them once they come back from the holidays." I chuckle as I took the two presents in my arms, smiling since I still have presents being sent to me today.

"I'll open them later though. I still have a lot to do." I place the unopened presents underneath my bed, where the Honeydukes candies I got from Pucey is.

"What are your plans for today?" Alem picked up The Little Mermaid book from his nightstand, assuming that he's ready to go back to reading in the common room. 

I internally cursed myself since I just realized that I haven't told him that I'm doing this 'secret mission' with Harry and the others.

I highly doubt he'll let me go out or wander off by myself to the Gryffindors when I tell him what I've been doing recently.

Of course I felt bad about it but Voldemort is going to pose a threat this year and I can't let Alem get involved in this.

"Just hanging out with Harry and Ron, showing off my Gameboy to the two." I smirk while putting up the Gameboy Color I got from Alem last night, although that isn't really what I was going to do today.

I'm not that kind of person.

Alem rolled his eyes before walking over towards the door, his book held on his right hand.

"Just don't get too caught up with that gadget or else I'll take it away from you." He warned, just like what he did last night when he gave me the Gameboy Color. 

I scoff silently, placing the gadget on the nightstand, since he sounds like a dad.

As Alem left the room, I grabbed the Standard Book of Spells and the Advanced Witchcraft Spells from my drawer and my black wand, ready to practice a little bit more spells to increase my magic power, stamina and learn a little bit of spell barrage.

Learning magic for free? 

Hell yeah, it's a steal.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

It was currently midnight and I immediately but silently hopped out of my bed as soon as the clock chimed, grabbing the cloak along with me since I was eager to see (Y/N) again tonight.

I was so relieved that the fat lady is on one of her nightly visits, otherwise I would have to deal with her yammering again and I have no time for a painting's sermon.

I already have Hermione to deal with that.

I internally panicked as I held my invisibility cloak closer to my small body whole frantically looking around for any sign of the (H/C) haired girl/boy, while I waited near the entrance.

"Oh don't tell me..." I murmured, suddenly frowning deeply and letting irrational thoughts go over my head since I was worried that (Y/N) will be seen by professors or Filch or Peeves.

We might mess this up and since (Y/N) was the last student they saw out of bed, they might put the blame on them.

I furrowed my eyebrows, finally deciding to go to the Slytherin common room by myself with my instinct since it's better than standing here and worrying.

"Harry?" I heard a hushed whisper call for my name and I immediately turned around, my cloak fluttering behind me in surprise.

(Y/N) stood there with their wand held on their hand and their purple and white pajamas with white slippers. 

They had a little bit of a bed hair but it looks like it was combed in a rush.

They also have my Gryffindor scarf on their other hand, which I assume that they're giving it back to me.

I still think that they look refreshing though.

I poked my head out of my cloak to make them aware of my presence in the area and I could never forget the sudden fear and shocked expression on their face when I revealed myself in front of them.

They even raised their wand in defense.

"Seriously, is everyone in this castle keen on scaring me and giving me a heart attack in the process!?" I heard them mumble in a hushed tone while clicking their tongue in annoyance. 

I immediately felt bad since I didn't actually mean to scare them.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to." I briefly apologized with a frown, bringing my gaze down to the cold stoned floors of the castle.

"It's alright." They sighed, rubbing the side of their head briefly as if I just gave them a headache. 

This only made me frown deeper and I started to think that I must've brought them down somehow.

"Here, thank you for the scarf, by the way." (Y/N) handed out my scarf for me to take and I hesitantly took it since I do want them to keep it anyway as a remembrance for me but I think that it'll be weird if I say it out loud.

"Anyway, let's get to work." The same, warm smile that they usually show to other people appeared and it was enough to bring me out of my saddened phase. 

I nodded with a smile and raised my arm, lifting the cloak up so (Y/N) could enter and be concealed along with me.

"I haven't seen or gotten myself invisible before." They laughed while I was just blushing furiously since they're so close to me that our shoulders are touching and I can just smell the shampoo scent from their hair.

"O-Oh..." Is all I could say, bringing myself together and leading us to the library and to the restricted section. 

Our footsteps are quiet enough that we can't even hear our own footsteps as we walked around the hallways with the cloak draped over our own heads.

"I-I'm not stepping on your foot, am I?" I began to feel worried since I didn't want to upset or hurt (Y/N) in any way. 

I heard them chuckle softly with a small shrug on their shoulders.

"If you are, I would've told you, wouldn't I?" They said with a tone of slight confusion and amusement. 

I blushed in embarrassment, realizing how stupid my question was.

After a few turns around the hallways of the castle and an awkward silence between the two of us, we finally reached the library and opened the door, revealing the dark and empty room.

At least Madam Pince isn't here to give us more trouble for tonight.

"It's too dark in here, even with Lumos." (Y/N) groaned as they conjured Lumos and waved it around the dark room to see anything at all. 

They began to look around to see if we could use any source of light, besides our wands, as they removed the light from the tip of their wand.

I started to look around as well so I can be helpful besides sneaking us inside but even with the candled lights from the hallway, I can't even see anything inside the library that would render useful as a light source.

"Look," They pointed at a bookshelf with their eyes squinted, almost looking like a cat who's having trouble with their eyesight. 

I followed their eyes and could see a faint silhouette of a lamp, sitting at the small table located at the side of the bookshelf.

We slowly walked towards it, careful not to trip into anything like stray books. Although the chance of having a stray book in the library is very unlikely since Madam Pince is very strict about the library rules and likes to keep things in order around here.

When we finally reached it, I slid my hand out of the cloak and tried to feel my way around the lamp so I can grab it and bring it inside the cloak. 

Fortunately, it wasn't hard for me to find with my hands so I quickly brought it inside and conjured Lumos so we can see the lamp better.

(Y/N) opened the lid of the lamp and pointed their wand towards the unlit candle.

"Lacarnum Inflamarae." They said and a small fire projected itself towards the candle, making our surroundings brighter than what Lumos could produce. 

We both smiled at each other as (Y/N) closed the lid again and progressed ourselves towards the restricted section.

Godric, this Slytherin is full of surprises.

It's no wonder I've taken such a liking to them.

When we got to the restricted section, the entrance was obviously locked so this time, it was my turn to conjure a spell to get us inside.

"Alohomora." I said, remembering the spell that Hermione did on the night we found Fluffy, and the lock on the gate-like door unlocked itself.

The door softly opened, giving us the opportunity to enter the restricted section of the library freely.

Or more like, illegally.

As we entered, I took this chance to remove the cloak out of our bodies since it was getting hot and hard to breathe. 

We both gave off an sigh of relief once we felt the fresh breath of air enter our lungs.

"Alright, so what are we looking for again?" (Y/N) asked, looking around the bookshelves that contained unknown and possibly, illegal, books.

"Something about Nicholas Flamel." I answered, wrapping the cloak around my body, since I can't just leave it somewhere, while holding the lamp with my other hand.

"Right." They chuckle softly when they saw me and my almost invisible body before turning towards the bookshelves and casting Lumos just to read the titles of each book.

I can't blame them, I probably look stupid right now.

I smile and lifted the lamp up to the bookshelves as well, ready to do some search about Nicholas Flamel.

"Flamel... Nicholas Flamel..." I mumble while squinting my eyes and reading through the titles while my finger navigated itself around the books, moving on to another when I saw that it wasn't the kind of book I was looking for.

I'd gotten irritated of the cloak around my shoulders and carrying this lamp, and so, I placed both of them on a nearby table before looking around the bookshelf briefly and grabbing a random book.

I glanced over towards (Y/N), who seems to be reading a random book and then returning it back to where they took it if it wasn't any of use to them.

I smile once again, thankful to have (Y/N)'s presence. I really just wanted to ask them on this request because I just wanted to have some time with them.

I'm glad that they're nice enough to actually take it.

I returned my attention back to the book, grabbing the edges of it to do some reading as well.

"Harry, wait-" I heard (Y/N) call out as I flipped the book open. A face emerged from the pages of the book as if it was trying to escape the book itself and a scream of desperation echoed around the once silent library, making me flinch from the loud sound.

I could see (Y/N) covering their ears as well and I immediately shut the book close and inserted it back to where I got it from.

"Harry, are you okay?" (Y/N) immediately ran towards my side, holding my shoulders as a sign of reassurance.

However, I was still shocked from that sudden scream that as I kept taking a step back to distance myself from that book as if I had nothing to do with it, my elbow had accidentally tipped the lamp off of the table and crashing it down to the floor.

"Oh crap!" I heard (Y/N) exclaim, covering their mouth in surprise.

The sound of glass shattering made me flinch, just like that scream, as the flame from the lamp died out almost immediately.

It wasn't long until I heard the sound of the library door open with a bang.

"Who's there?" That voice that belonged to Filch, straightened me up and grab the invisibility cloak, draping it over ourselves to hide from Filch.

"Let's go." I heard (Y/N) mumble and with a nod, we both gently and silently walked away from our spot to return back to our common rooms since we were done for tonight.

I was right about us- well, _me_ , messing things up tonight.

We weren't able to find anything about Nicholas Flamel, even in the restricted section. 

It's either that this person is very mysterious and Dumbledore only knows him or we're just very bad at looking for things.

"I'm sorry about what happened, (Y/N). I wasn't paying attention." I mumbled, apologizing to the Slytherin beside me.

"Don't apologize, Harry. It wasn't your fault that a book jumped out at you and screamed so loud that it could wake the entire castle." (Y/N) chuckled, trying to make the mood lighter and it definitely worked as I felt a smile curve up on my lips while both giving the (H/C) haired girl/boy an appreciative and a loving gaze.

Godric, I've spent 11 years at the Dursleys and enduring every single worst possible things they've done to me. 

It took me 11 years to find people who actually care for me and love me.

It took me 11 years to find (Y/N); someone who brought me another purpose and someone who I can protect.

How time flies, indeed.

"Oh shoot!" (Y/N)'s weird dialect slipped out as they exclaimed and stopped on their tracks. 

I stopped as well and followed their nervous eyes to see what made them react that way.

Sitting in front of us was Mrs. Norris, Filch's creepy red-eyed cat.

She must know that we are hiding inside an invisibility cloak because her eyes are staring right up at us and she stood up, lifting her cat legs and walked towards our way as if she had any dark attempts of trying to rip our cloak from us.

I felt (Y/N) lightly slap my arm a few times, beckoning me to walk away from Mrs. Norris and fast.

Of course, I obliged and immediately walked away from the wretched cat with (Y/N) beside me. 

Our rushed footsteps can be heard now since we're in a hurry to get away from Mrs. Norris and hopefully, lose her.

I turned around and saw Mrs. Norris still following us with her slightly long cat legs. 

I grumbled in annoyance, wanting to use magic to push this cat away from us and let us be on our way.

I was about to raise my wand towards Mrs. Norris but I felt (Y/N)'s arm stopping me, halting our feet from walking through the cold floor of the castle.

They didn't say anything which I thought was weird and I dropped my hand that was pointing my wand towards Mrs. Norris, glancing forward to see what got (Y/N) so riled up again.

But what I saw completely made me paralyzed and cautious, my green eyes dilated in surprise while my large round glasses are on the edge of falling from my face.

Snape had Professor Quirrell slammed onto a wall, his wrinkled fingers tightly curled around the DADA teacher's robe collar. 

The Potions master didn't spare Professor Quirrell any glance of mercy. Instead, it was replaced with both skepticism and anger which is what I didn't understand.

_What's going on between these two?_

"Severus... I-I thought-" Professor Quirrell stuttered out, looking at Snape with fear and nervousness.

(Y/N) and I took a step closer to the two professors so we can listen to their conversation a little bit better. Our attention was fully towards them.

"You don't want me as your enemy, Quirrell." Snape narrowed his dark eyes as he cuts Professor Quirrell off as if he wasn't buying anything that Professor Quirrell is going to say.

"W-What do you m-mean...?" The DADA teacher squeaked while he was trying to press himself closer at the wall as if doing that could put some distance between him and Snape.

"You know perfectly well what I mean-" Snape suddenly stopped, his head slightly raised before turning his head towards our way. 

I immediately pressed a hand on my mouth to silence my loud breathing.

I glanced towards my side and saw (Y/N) doing the same, their (E/C) eyes also shooting me a look of caution. 

I can feel both of us trembling as we didn't want to get caught, especially by Snape.

His curious and suspicious look made my heart thump and Professor Quirrell wondered what had gotten Snape so curious all of a sudden.

When Snape reached his hand out, as if trying to grab something, I silently backed myself and (Y/N) while I was holding their arm.

He closed his fists and caught nothing but air from the position that we were in a few seconds ago. 

Snape threw another suspicious look towards our way before returning his attention back to Professor Quirrell, gripping the collar of his robe tightly once more.

"We'll have another chat soon..." Snape said in his usual slow way of talking but I couldn't help but feel like his tone was somewhat sinister, as if he was warning Professor Quirrell about something.

"When you've had time to decide where your loyalties lie." He continued before removing his grip from Professor Quirrell's robe collar, making the DADA teacher give off a sigh of relief as he takes a deep breath in order to regain the fresh air that he lost a few moments ago.

"Oh, Professors," The voice of Filch made every single one of us in the hallway look at him. He was holding up the broken lamp that I accidentally nudged off of the table in the library.

"I found this in the Restricted Section. It's still hot." He continued to report to the professors while I felt (Y/N)'s fingers curl around my arm which made me look at them.

"That means there is a student out of bed." (Y/N) tilted their head towards the door at the end of the hallway. 

The door was being graced by the light of the moon, almost giving it a mystical look and seems like it was intentionally trying to lure us in.

I turn my head back towards (Y/N) with a nod while the two professors and Filch ran off towards the Restricted Section behind us.

Once we made sure that no one is around the hallway, we started to walk our way towards the door. To my surprise, it wasn't locked when I pulled the handle of the door to open it.

We stepped inside and closed the door, glancing around the unknown dark room as I removed the cloak from our heads and dropped it on the floor.

"What is this room?" I breathed out and started to feel a little bit cold from the chilly air of the room. 

There weren't any candles or any torches in the room to give it light besides from the moon light that shone from a large window behind us.

"I don't know." (Y/N) replied, looking around the room as well with an observatory look.

I followed the ray of the moon light to see where it was shining at and at the end of the ray, a large golden squared mirror stood there with strange letterings carved at the top.

**_Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi_ **

"(Y/N), look." I pointed at the mirror as curiosity got the better of me and started to walk towards it.

I feel like it's trying to show me something.

But what?

»»————- ♡ ————-««

As Harry started to walk towards the Mirror of Erised, (Y/N) frowned and suddenly remembered their "friend" that also shared the same name as the mirror.

They rolled their eyes silently at the childish behavior of the figure, that brought them into this world, named Erised.

Why they named themselves after a mirror, (Y/N) has no idea but it does sound somewhat stupid.

The Slytherin also started to walk towards the mirror hesitantly once Harry was already standing in front of it.

They were scared of what they are going to see.

What do they truly want?

Harry's green eyes stared at the reflection with surprise as tears started to well up, disbelief shown on his face as he stared up to face his two parents that have left this world sooner than they deserved.

It was Lily and James Potter.

"Mum?" Harry croaked out, staring up at his redhead mother, who smiled at him with loving green eyes.

"Dad?" He turned his eyes on his other side to see his father, who looked very much like him with the glasses, nodding as if he was confirming his son's suspicions with a gentle smile.

However, there was still another figure that showed up at Harry's side and this figure held Harry's hand, staring at his reflection with cheerful and loving eyes.

(Y/N)'s reflection held Harry's hand with a huge smile and the more Harry stared at the mirror, the more he slipped away from reality as white flashes flicker through his mind.

The sounds of (Y/N)'s distant screams echo in his mind and it mixed with the sounds of children laughing, overlapping and covering (Y/N)'s screams that eventually turned into wails of desperation.

"Harry." (Y/N) snapped Harry's fantasy out of his head, making him return back to reality. 

Once Harry's green eyes returned back to life, he snapped his head towards (Y/N), who stood behind him with a curious gaze.

"Are you alright?" They asked before walking over beside Harry, not facing the mirror yet as they're afraid of what their heart desires. 

He stared at them with surprise for a moment before shaking his head, letting himself get a breather.

"I'm alright." Harry mumbled, looking at the mirror that still had his parents' reflection in it except there wasn't any (Y/N) standing beside him which made him narrow his green eyes skeptically.

_What was that just now?_

"I see my parents." Harry said while feeling a little bit happy for being able to see a real reflection of his parents, giving him hope and chances of being able to see them again.

"Your parents?" (Y/N) flicked their eyes towards the mirror but immediately flicked them back to Harry's eyes before they could even see anything. Harry noticed their strange behavior and cocked his eyebrow up.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked. "You're hesitating to look at the mirror directly."

(Y/N) pursed their lips together, forming a thin line. They, unintentionally, gave themselves away because of their behavior and they don't know how to respond to Harry.

Of course, the Slytherin always has a lie ready on their sleeve.

"I... I know what this mirror does." They bit the insides of their right cheek when they saw how surprised Harry was. 

Merlin, they didn't want to crush Harry's hopes.

"Harry," (Y/N) takes a small deep breath before continuing themselves, "This mirror shows you your heart's deepest desire." They sigh while Harry was starting to put all of the pieces together.

_So,_

_This mirror doesn't show you the future?_ Harry thought.

_But what about (Y/N) in that reflection? And that vision too._

_Where did it come from then?_

"The fact that you're seeing your parents means that meeting them must be what you really want." (Y/N) added as they rubbed their arm and castes their gaze somewhere besides the mirror and Harry, himself.

They're just not ready to look at the mirror as they're afraid that their desires might consume them and will make them obsessed with getting that desire to happen.

But in the end, that's all they are; desires that grew from deep within our hearts in order to make us have something to look forward to, right?

"But I saw you too." Harry murmured underneath his breath, turning his eyes towards the mirror where he sees (Y/N) clinging into his arm while smiling happily as if they had nothing to worry about.

(Y/N), who had somewhat heard Harry's murmur, wondered if they had heard Harry's words right but didn't confront the focused Gryffindor in front of them.

He also saw his parents and they were both holding (Y/N) and Harry's shoulders, smiling from ear to ear and seemingly giving the two their blessings for them to be together.

His green eyes darkened as he kept his gaze on the mirror version of the Slytherin beside him. 

Harry knows, deep down, that being with (Y/N) is also what he wants and judging from the way that his parents are behaving in the mirror, it seems like they also want him and (Y/N) to be together as well.

Just like what a person, who has already lost two important people in his life, would think, Harry vowed that he will make this desire, that's growing deep in his heart, happen.

He doesn't care if this mirror doesn't show you the future or anything of the sort, if this is what Harry desires the most in his heart, he will make it happen.

"What do you see, (Y/N)?" Harry finally asked while the glow in his eyes returned. "You must have a strong desire in your heart as well."

(Y/N) raised their eyebrow, finding the way how Harry said that to be quite strange. 

They removed their hand from their arm and stopped rubbing it, returning the frustrating feeling of the growing conflict crawling in their skin.

"Everyone has desires in their hearts, Harry. Although some are just not as strong as others." They raked their fingers through their now messy (H/C) hair before gliding it down to the back of their neck as they closed their eyes.

"My desires are many and frankly, I don't want to know the strongest desire in my heart just by looking at this mirror for I don't want to be consumed with the thought of either making this desire happen or why this desire is the strongest in my heart." (Y/N) said, somewhat, truthfully before opening their eyes and keep their half-lidded stare at the raven haired boy.

Although, it's really just a trick in order for Harry to not pester and insist (Y/N) of looking in the mirror.

Harry hummed as a small smirk curled up in the corner of his lightly pale lips.

"I'm sorry if I offend you by saying this but you must be emotionally vulnerable, if that's the case." He held his smile when (Y/N) chuckled in a pitiful way, confirming Harry's words.

He doesn't know why but he liked knowing the Slytherin's weakness, the first out of everything.

"Well, if you put it that way, it makes me look like I have emotional issues or something." (Y/N) shrugged and walked away from Harry and the mirror, letting themselves get drowsy by the time they've grown accustomed in the dimly lit room of the castle.

"Though I can control them if I am thinking logically, if you know what I mean." They added while Harry scoffs with a smile, dragging his feet over to where (Y/N) is and leaving the mirror behind him.

The Gryffindor crouched down and grabbed the cloak that he dropped on the floor, lifting it over to his head.

"It's a good thing that Hermione is your friend, then." (Y/N) rolled their eyes when Harry said this before walking over to him and letting themselves be invisible as Harry covered their bodies.

"I won't be coming here if I'm having troubles with what I really want." They randomly blurted out of the blue, walking over to the door while Harry hums understandingly while tapping his chin innocently.

"I won't be coming back here as well." (Y/N) turned to look at Harry, surprised at his words. 

They know that Harry will come back here for a few nights and get Ron here tomorrow but they didn't expect him to say this.

 _Did I mess things up again?_

(Y/N) gulped and suddenly remembered the night where the Midnight Duel had taken place; Draco showed up although he wasn't supposed to and that lead to an awkward and triggering conversation with Draco and (Y/N) at their common room.

What if something similar is going to happen to them and Harry?

"What? Why?" They asked.

"I already saw my parents and that's all I only wanted. Although we didn't talk, I'm still glad that I saw what they look like." Harry gives (Y/N) a gentle smile, making them frown slightly since he seems very sincere about not coming back here that it's odd.

"Besides, it's not wise to dwell at your desires until it consumes you completely, right?" He adds as the two walked around the hallways, on their way to their respective common rooms.

(Y/N) grumbled silently as they looked away from Harry since they can't do anything about this odd change, especially after he, somewhat, quoted Dumbledore on the night he came to talk to Harry on the room where the Mirror of Erised is.

As for Harry, he only glanced at them from the corner of his darkened green eyes, smiling innocently while admiring their slightly troubled features before turning his attention back on the darkened hallways of the castle and silently walking beside (Y/N).

Little did the troubled Slytherin know that the Gryffindor had plans to go and seek the mirror once more in order to fuel the desire that he has for the eldest daughter/son of the Rosewood family while thinking many of many ways in order to make sure that what the mirror showed,

**Will be his future.**

**»»————- ♡ ————-««**

**A/N:**

**Hello everyone! It's been a while, hasn't it?**

**I know I said that I was going to take a break from writing and from Wattpad but I couldn't bring myself to do it because the thought of leaving you guys for, who knows how long, made me frown.**

**I might just take a break after the first year is done or I'm not really sure.**

**My breaks tend to last for a month or two or maybe even more which is why I didn't want to take a break in the middle of writing the current year.**

**Now, most of you will probably say that I can go ahead and just take a break from writing and y'all won't mind but I do.**

**So as selfish as it is for me to say this, please let me write, at least, until the first year is finished. I might contemplate taking a break before I start writing for the second year.**

**Anyways, enough about me, how are you guys?**

**I hope the chapter isn't too short or sucky for you, I mean it's over 8,000 words which is quite... shorter than how much I usually write.**

**As usual, please give me your thoughts or criticisms for the story. If you have any suggestions or questions, go ahead and message me or tag me. I like talking to all of you so :)**

**I'll see you all in the next chapter! ♡**


	15. I - XIV:「The Cracks That Begin To Form」

❝ **What do I have to do to make you understand that you can't ever escape me?**

**I'll always follow you wherever you go.❞**

**»»————- ♡ ————-««**

(Y/N) swung their short legs on one of the benches of the Hogwarts train platform that's not too far from the castle, waiting for Hermione to return from the Christmas holidays since the female Gryffindor said that she will return today.

The Slytherin pressed the buttons on their Gameboy Color, their (E/C) eyes focused on the gadget that their brother gave them this Christmas.

They figured that they could kill some time by playing games while waiting for Hermione.

They received no word from Draco on when he will return but they didn't expect him to send them a letter either way so they don't really care.

On cue, the Hogwarts train's steam screeched in the distance, making (Y/N) look up from their gameboy and smile happily as the train pulled up on the platform while pausing their game.

The train gave off another set of steam before the doors opened, letting the students file out of the red train with their luggages held in their hands.

(Y/N) dusted off any dirt from their robe and pulled their Slytherin scarf up to their mouth before scanning the area for any sign of the bushy haired Gryffindor.

It took (Y/N) a while to find Hermione in the crowd but once they saw a patch of brown bushy hair in the distance, they smile and walked over to her as they bumped into a few students along the way.

(Y/N) mumbled an apology to every student who they bumped into until they were standing right behind Hermione, who also seems to be scanning the vicinity for (Y/N) while tiptoeing in order to look for the Slytherin through the tall crowds.

(Y/N) poked Hermione shoulders, making the female turn around in surprise. Her expression of surprise softened, a smile curling up on Hermione's lips before placing her luggage down and pulling (Y/N) in for a hug.

They didn't expect Hermione to hug them but they returned the hug nonetheless, wrapping their small arms around the Gryffindor's body with a smile.

The two retracted from the hug, chuckling at each other before walking their way back to the castle.

In the distance, a platinum blonde haired boy stood still on the platform while staring at the retreating forms of (Y/N) and Hermione.

Draco's eyes darkened at the sight of (Y/N) happily chatting and smiling at Hermione as the grip on his luggage tightened.

They didn't even see him standing there, waiting for them to actually come and welcome him back.

It pained him, to say the least.

"That filthy little mudblood..." Draco seethed through his teeth while blaming this jealousy all on Hermione.

It took a while for the Malfoy to actually compose himself before walking over towards the gates of the castle in order to ride a carriage to the castle.

He was eager to return back to Hogwarts just to see (Y/N) and this is what he gets?

He might have to do a little fixing before the year ends.

Meanwhile, (Y/N) and Hermione are already riding a carriage as they tried to catch up to each other by telling how their Christmas vacation went.

"How was your vacation, Hermione?" (Y/N) tucked their gameboy inside their hoodie's pocket and thought that they should just continue the game later.

"It was alright. Nothing too extraordinary." Hermione shrugged and loosened her Gryffindor scarf from her neck by gently pulling on it. "What about you? Did you find anything about Nicolas Flamel?" She asked.

"Eh... I think Harry should be the one who's going to tell you that." (Y/N) sweat dropped, looking away from the skeptical brown haired female and faced the Forbidden Forest that sat in the distance.

They only said that because they wanted to see if what Harry said about not returning to the Mirror of Erised to be true.

"Why?" Hermione cocked her eyebrow up in confusion.

"Just because." (Y/N) chuckled nervously.

Hermione narrowed her eyes for a moment before sighing in defeat and decided to ask Harry about it instead.

Although (Y/N) is very strange in doing or asking certain things, Hermione knows that they do it for a reason.

"Alright." She mumbled and laid her arm on the ledge of the carriage, letting her head rest on her hand while staring up at the castle that's growing nearer the more the carriage drives them towards it.

(Y/N) gave off an unnoticeable sigh of relief before smiling appreciatively at the brown haired female across them.

"By the way, look what Alem got me for Christmas." (Y/N) pulled the gameboy out of their pocket with a laugh, changing the subject so it wouldn't be awkward.

»»----- ♡ -----««

"I had another nightmare again." Harry groaned, raking his fingers through his messy raven hair while taking a seat across Ron, who's stuffing his face with food again.

He scanned the slightly crowded a Great Hall to see if (Y/N) is in the area but to his disappointment, they aren't.

The term starts again tomorrow so there are more students in the Great Hall than it was during the holidays.

Harry clicked his tongue as he recalled his dream again and it's very easy because he always dreams about it every single night; it's the same nightmare of his parents and his eyes being engulfed by a flashing green light, almost making him relive the night when his parents died and it always ends with a disturbing, eerie and high pitched cackle.

To which, he can only say, belongs to Voldemort.

When he wakes up, he always gets a chill running down in his spine because he can still hear the cackle, only getting more distorted as the days pass by.

Only, there would always be times where (Y/N) would appear in the middle of his nightmares, burying his face on the crook of their neck as if they are protecting him from any danger.

Harry clung desperately to (Y/N) when they would appear in the middle of his nightmare, almost as if they were the only thing that can save him from everything that will, unexpectedly, jump out at him and make his heart jump out of his chest.

Like a Messiah's gift that is reserved only for Harry himself.

He could never see (Y/N)'s face that well when he gets these nightmares but his heart told him and assured him that it is, indeed, them.

Tonight was one of those nights where (Y/N) did not appear to shield him from any harm or give him any sign of reassurance, which is why Harry is more distressed than ever.

The red haired boy frowned when he saw the noticeable dark bags underneath his green eyes. Ron could see that he's getting restless after Harry stopped going to seek for the mirror of Erised. 

_It must be the after effects_ , Ron thought.

The Weasley wasn't as affected as Harry though since he only visited the mirror once and he chose not to dwell on his desires that were shown on the mirror.

"You see, Dumbledore was right; the mirror could drive you mad." Ron said, watching Harry as he dropped his face to the table.

Harry scoffed and casted his gaze at the entranceway of the Great Hall without replying to Ron's words, waiting for (Y/N) to pass through.

"What mirror?" What Harry didn't know, though, was that (Y/N) and Hermione were already in the Great Hall the moment Harry sat down across Ron.

The two stood behind the Weasley, who almost flung the Chocolate Frog out of his hands.

Harry and Ron turned to look at Hermione, who crossed her arms and looked at the raven haired boy with half-lidded brown eyes.

Behind her stood (Y/N), poking their head from behind Hermione and eyeing the two male Gryffindors with their hands behind their back.

Harry was glad to see (Y/N) but he mentally panicked when he realized that Hermione heard Ron saying something about the mirror and in the process, (Y/N).

No, Ron didn't say anything about me returning there for three nights so I'm alright, he internally breathed a sigh of relief as he closed his eyes and kept his guard up around (Y/N) and Hermione.

"Mirror of Erised. (Y/N) and I found it in a room while we were looking for something about Nicolas Flamel." Harry explained for himself before Ron could even say anything because his red haired friend could mess things up with a single word.

"Mirror of Erised?" Hermione repeated Harry's words, curious about what those two had found while looking around for any idea of who Nicolas Flamel is.

"It's supposed to show you your heart's deepest desire. Seems like it could make one mad if it dwells on the mirror for too long, thinking that it'll show them their future or something." (Y/N) answered Hermione's suspicions on what the mirror is about while silently eyeing Harry suspiciously.

He didn't make any eye contact to the (H/C) haired girl/boy, only watching Hermione and Ron since Harry wants to avoid (Y/N) for now until he's able to secure a lie that he hasn't returned to seek for the mirror ever since he had told them that he wouldn't be returning.

Hermione hums before taking a seat beside Ron and placing their luggage at the empty space beside her.

The two immediately went to the Great Hall since they wanted to surprise Harry or Ron that Hermione is already back.

That didn't go too well.

"And what's happening to Harry after he looked at the mirror?" Hermione sighs while taking off her Gryffindor scarf since it's getting too hot for her to keep it around her neck.

Ron and Harry exchanged a look for a moment which was noticed by (Y/N) judging from the look in the two boys' eyes.

 _Harry did end up going back to the mirror, didn't he?_ (Y/N)'s eyes became half-lidded.

They were glad that they didn't actually mess the timeline up after all but both confused and offended at the same time because Harry just lied to them.

They pursed their lips for a moment before taking a seat next to the unoccupied space beside Ron.

Yes, they're somewhat angry because Harry just lied to them but they figured that their reason must be too private for him to actually tell them the reason why.

And (Y/N) respects that but still, the least he could've done is just say that he's still coming back to seek the mirror or just not say anything because they would've known he'd be returning either way.

Now they feel like Harry doesn't trust them enough as a friend.

"He's been having frequent nightmares about his parents after looking at the mirror." Ron explained, taking a bite out of his chocolate frog.

Hermione blinks and dropped the subject with a slight frown and worry for Harry. She didn't press the matter any further since she thinks that Harry might not want to talk about it right now.

Harry glanced over at (Y/N), whose facial expressions has softened into a deadpan one.

He internally sighed in relief once more before fully partaking in a conversation with his friends.

(Y/N) retrieved their gameboy from their hoodie pocket and turned it on, catching the attention of the two male Gryffindors.

They asked what the 'device' was and how it worked, it was mostly Ron who asked the features of the gameboy but Harry pursed his lips in slight jealousy since he was aware of what the gameboy is since he grew up in the world of muggles.

It's currently one of the most popular game devices on the market right now and it's somewhat expensive.

Dudley, his cousin, pleaded for Petunia and Vernon to buy him one and threw a huge tantrum when they said that they can get it for him but just not now.

Harry would often stare at the television in awe when the advertisement for the gameboy would come on, wondering when he could own one in the future.

So the fact that (Y/N)'s family can purchase something like that made him envious but not to the point of hate.

It just made him sad because he never even got anything that he would consider "presentable" like well-made clothes or a shiny, new pair of glasses.

Even his round glasses were just taped together just to make it useable for another week or so until Hermione came along and fixed it, for Merlin's sake.

(Y/N), who noticed Harry's longing stare at the device held on their hand, glanced over at the gameboy for a minute before handing it over to Harry.

The Gryffindor was surprised, not expecting (Y/N) to just hand it over to him.

"You can borrow it if you want." They gave Harry a smile, reassuring him that it'd be fine if he borrowed it. Harry blushed in embarrassment, glancing over at (Y/N) smiling face and the gameboy extended towards him.

He didn't know what to say, no words could come out of his mouth and he didn't think that he'd like (Y/N) more than this.

It's like they knew exactly what he was thinking.

"Don't worry, I trust you enough to actually let you borrow it." (Y/N) added and gently placed the device on his hand before resting their head on the palm of their hand.

Ron puffed his cheeks and leaned closer to Harry, who's still looking at the gameboy to admire it's features before pressing the buttons to resume the game that (Y/N) paused.

"Can we take turns?" Ron tried to take a peek at Harry's gameplay but couldn't since he's leaning too far already.

Harry could only smile and shrug, the 8-bit sound resonating from the gameboy reaching his ears and almost drowning out the bustling noises from the students in the Great Hall.

He flicked his eyes over to (Y/N), who's now taking a seat beside Hermione and talking to her with a smile.

Harry blushes and gently pursed his lips in order to create a small smile on the corner of his lips.

Besides from the fact that he woke up from a disturbing and reoccurring nightmare, this day has been great so far.

»»----- ♡ -----««

The term finally began and the chilly and comfort from the Christmas holidays gradually disappeared, just like the formed snow that accumulated from outside the castle.

Spring is about to come and I can't help but miss the relaxing days from the holidays. I just want to lay in my bed all day while playing my gameboy and eating the candies that Pucey sent me.

I already finished the whole box, don't judge me.

I sigh and tugged my oddly large Slytherin robe when I felt it becoming loose. Geez, Alem must've gotten my robe size wrong or mixed it up with someone else's because this is too large for me.

Unfortunately, my brother isn't accompanying me on my way to the DADA classroom because he already went ahead and left me. I feel betrayed.

It's not my fault I woke up late and didn't respond to Alem's wake up calls!

I frowned as I returned my eyes over to the hallway so I can actually see where I'm going. To my surprise, Cedric was also walking towards the same hallway, only in the opposite direction so we're literally facing each other.

I blushed softly when we both made eye contact and I can feel myself getting into an internal conflict because I don't know if I should confront him or not.

I haven't even thanked him for getting me a Christmas present even though we barely even talked before.

He got me a large moving embroidered rose, whose petals are gently flowing to who knows where, that's framed in a black and classy picture frame. It definitely looked mesmerizing but the fact that the rose's petals don't run out, even though it's been constantly shedding petals and flowing onto the side until it's out of the frame, is bothering me.

Ah, the wonders of magic.

I still appreciate it though because it's from Cedric.

Salazar, get yourself together; you're 11 years old and he's 14 years old! Why are you crushing over someone who's older than you!?

My subconscious told me that I'm almost 18 years old so I'm technically crushing on someone who's around my age by the time fourth year comes but I immediately threw that thought out of the window because I am 11 years old right now.

Cedric is growing closer and his eyes still bore in my (E/C) colored ones as if he's expecting me to do something. I wasn't able to get the courage to speak up as we passed each other by and I felt regret once I saw Cedric's eyes flicker away.

I was able to take a whiff of the Hufflepuff's scent and my blush deepened when I recalled the scent of cinnamon and coffee wafting around my nose. It truly smelled like home, like you can just imagine yourself sipping a freshly brewed coffee with a book on your lap and your back rested on a comfortable sofa chair.

Salazar, it's intoxicating, to say the least.

"Hey, Diggory," I turned around and grabbed Cedric's attention, making the tall Hufflepuff's head tilt towards my way with a look of surprise until it his face softened into a gentle one.

"Thank you for the gift. I-I really like it." I gently bit my bottom lip and peeled off any dried skin on my lip with my teeth. Cedric chuckles and tucked his hand on the pocket of his Hufflepuff robe.

"I'm glad that you do." He grins, making me turn away from Cedric since I don't want him to see me blushing harder than before. Salazar, there is really something wrong with me.

I'm supposed to help Cedric at my fourth year but I didn't expect myself to like him along the way. How am I supposed to take this seriously now without letting my feelings for him get in the way?

"Say, do you know that something bad is going to happen to me?" Cedric asked with a smile, making me straighten my posture out of surprise and purse my lips into a straight line.

"You always have a sad look on your face when you look at me. I'm quite worried considering that you're the rumored seer that everyone's talking about." He added and I internally curse my stupidity and overall, myself for being too obvious that it comes across as suspicious.

I don't want to mess things up in this world until in my fourth year where I will save Cedric. A huge risk, if you ask me because it will greatly affect my fifth year and the upcoming years.

For now, I need to play it off as if I don't know anything.

"That's... not exactly what I want to be known as." I bashfully rub the back of my neck while casting my gaze somewhere else. I hear the Hufflepuff laugh at my statement in amusement.

"And I'm usually just very tired and end up frowning when things get too rough. Besides, if I know that something bad is going to happen to you, I would tell you, wouldn't I?" I lied, obviously. I feel bad about lying to Cedric but I have to.

Unsurprisingly, he bought the lie as he nodded understandingly.

As silence started to grow between the two of us, I chuckle nervously and gripped the handle of my bag tightly to prevent myself from cringing due to the awkwardness.

"Well, I'm late for my DADA class so I should probably get going." I raised my thumb and pointed it behind me with a shrug, making Cedric blink as if he snapped back to reality.

He nodded again a few times before smiling and waving me goodbye.

"I'll see you in the Quidditch game next week, won't I?" Cedric asked and I cocked my eyebrow in confusion, wondering why he just asked a random question out of nowhere.

"I mean, your friend is Potter and he's in the Gryffindor team so you must be cheering for him." He added to clear up any confusions I might have with his questions and when he did that, my eyes twinkled in realization and nodded while silently cursing myself.

I just forgot that the opposing Quidditch teams this month is going to be Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff. It happened in the first book and I have to remember some stuff and get ready for another mystery solving or something.

"I guess so?" My reply came out as a question but Cedric took it as an answer nonetheless. He gave me a wave of goodbye with a smile curled up on his lips before turning into a corner from where I came from, disappearing from my sight.

I stood there for a moment before realizing that I'm late for my DADA class and there's only a few minutes left before class started. Without any hesitation, I dashed towards the classroom with a smile unknowingly plastered on my lips as I finally had the chance to talk to Cedric, even if it was short and awkward.

»»----- ♡ -----««

"T-Today, w-we'll be l-learning how to i-improve your re-reaction time!" Quirrell stuttered from his podium, eyeing every single one of us who's in his classroom. Today, Gryffindors and Slytherins are having the same class again and I didn't really mind.

I still have this slight deadpan look of annoyance when I keep looking at Quirrell because he's a prick and Voldemort is literally pressed from behind his head. I'd unravel his turban if I wasn't so nice and didn't have any regard for the rules just to show everyone that this professor isn't what he portrays himself as.

"In p-protecting yourself from s-spells, your reaction time is absolutely n-n-necessary. Before the spell c-could even hit your f-face, you must either do-dodge or b-block the o-opposing spell with a c-counter spell." Quirrell explained as he walked out from behind his podium and stood closer to us, giving us a meek smile.

"I-I will be conjuring A-Aguamenti and y-you will be u-using G-Glacius to turn the wa-water into i-ice and stop it f-from spraying y-you in the fa-face." Quirrell told and most of us were already mumbling to each other to see if we can even conjure a slightly advanced spell.

I guess that's part of the challenge so I'm not really too bothered by it. I mean, I already know the spells either way and if this prick ends up conjuring a different spell, I always have Protego to counter that spell.

Draco stood beside me, smirking and oozing with confidence. He must think that he can easily get that O but judging from Quirrell's dirty tricks that he might use while assessing us, Draco might get worse than an A.

"I s-shall assess your r-reaction times i-individually for t-three rounds and the s-student who has t-the quickest r-reaction time will r-receive an O for this l-lesson." Quirrell smiles and shoots me a mocking glare. I immediately knew that he would be up to no good if it was my turn to be assessed.

So I obviously need to get ready.

"L-Let us begin t-then." Quirrell grabbed a parchment on his podium and unrolled it, glancing at the top of the parchment before opening his mouth to speak and call the student that was the first out of everyone else.

It was a Gryffindor and he's extremely nervous, repeating the spell Glacius underneath his breath that his wand is already emitting a snowy mist.

Quirrell pointed this out and told him to stay calm, to which the Gryffindor boy did.

I sighed and glanced over to my other side, where Alem stood with his arms crossed and his (E/C) eyes observing the assessment of the unknown Gryffindor boy.

"Hey, are you alright?" I strike up a conversation with my brother so I can kill some time before it was my turn.

A loud explosive sound startled Alem and I, making us turn our heads towards the source of the explosion.

Seamus Finnigan was there, holding his wand and his face charred with ash from the explosion but at least his explosion managed to evaporate the Aguamenti that Quirrell conjured.

Eventually, it was Hermione's turn and I didn't even notice until Alem told me after stealing a glance to see who's being assessed next.

We observed Hermione, who seemed to be somewhat calm and her wand gently gripped in her hand.

She was able to freeze the waters three times and her reaction time is better than most students. Hermione was able to freeze them before the waters were even able to reach the middle.

Quirrell ended up giving the Gryffindor house extra points for Hermione's skills and said that she might be the one who will get that O.

I heard Draco scoff from beside me, obviously not finding Hermione's skills to be impressive.

He's very confident that he'd win this, isn't he?

Neville's assessment was... interesting.

Neville isn't really good when it comes to spells and this only proves my point when he wasn't able to conjure Glacius due to his stuttering and nervousness and just let the water from Aguamenti spray his face.

I heard Draco and the other Slytherins laugh at this and I silently shot Draco a glare, that he didn't notice.

Neville mispronounced Glacius on his second try, only saying 'glacier' and let another set of streaming water spray his already damped face. His uniform is already damped along with his hair.

Quirrell instructed Neville on how to conjure and pronounce Glacius before doing the final round of Neville's assessment.

This time, he was able to conjure Glacius but it only managed to freeze the tip of the water, making the poorly frozen Aguamenti hit his face with a large groan escaping his lips since it was technically a strong, cold ice that hit him in the face.

The Gryffindor boy was immediately treated since he managed to get a broken nose from the impact of the ice.

Next up was Draco and he still had that confident smirk on his lips as he raised his wand and ready to conjure Glacius.

Long story short, he was able to freeze the waters but wasn't as quick as Hermione, probably because he was too focused on eyeing Quirrell's wand rather than conjuring the actual counter spell itself.

Draco was unsatisfied and had a scowl on his face when he walked back to his spot, beside mine. 

I pat his shoulder and told him that he did a great job, telling him not to worry.

Next was Harry and I swore I saw Quirrell narrowing his eyes the moment Harry walked over to the center.

I silently scoff when I saw Quirrell smiling at Harry in order to cover up the malice that he had for the raven haired Gryffindor.

Harry's Glacius ended up creating a thick layer of ice on the Aguamenti that when it fell to the ground, it created a large thud that's equivalent to a mallet hitting a solid, hard ground.

His magic power must be very high if that's the case.

Other students' Glacius wasn't strong enough to actually create the unfortunate side effects of casting this spell but Harry's Glacius is strong enough to actually make everyone near the vicinity to make their breaths create a thick white mist and feel the frigidity from the spell itself.

Draco's was also strong but not strong enough to actually make the room this cold.

My shaky breath made it out of my lips as I brought my robe closer to my body, feeling the coldness pierce through my skin as if I'm swimming in an ice cold ocean.

Quirrell noticed us growing weak from the sudden cold and raised his wand, ready for another incantation to fix the cold that Harry unintentionally made.

"Focillo." He says while circling his hand in a slow clockwise movement. A warm light enveloped the tip of Quirrell's wand as the room started to become warmer and the cold atmosphere eventually faded.

The temperature of the room returned to normal and I breathed a sigh of relief while making myself grow some comfort from the sudden normalcy of the temperature.

"I-I'm sorry, Professor." Harry briefly apologized, placing his wand down and turned his head towards me with a worried expression plastered on his pale face. I nodded with a smile, reassuring Harry that I'm fine and that he has nothing to worry about.

"It's a-alright, Mr. P-Potter. Y-You will be s-skipping the a-assessment." Quirrell said and the frown that was on Harry's lips deepened when he said this.

"W-We don't want t-to get o-ourselves some c-cold feet a-again now, d-do we?" The DADA teacher added, making me scowl at the light shade that Quirrell had for Harry.

The male Gryffindor nodded sadly at Quirrell's words as he walked away from the center of the classroom and back into the crowd where the Gryffindors stood.

I can hear Ron and Hermione giving Harry words of reassurance in the distance and I smiled at this, making me know that there are friends that Harry can rely on.

Next came Alem and I patted his back gently before he walked up to the center with his face and body relaxed, almost as if he's unfazed by the thought of getting his reaction time to be quicker than anyone else.

Quirrell stared at Alem for a moment, wondering why he isn't getting into a stance or raising his wand in order to be ready for the spell.

I rolled my eyes with a slight smirk curling in the corner of my lips since I already know where this is going.

Listen, I've been with Alem for 5 months already and those 5 months are enough to make me know that; if there's anything that Alem Rosewood specializes in, it's mastering magic spells along with the intuition and strategy that came along with it.

Without any warning, Quirrell conjured Aguamenti towards Alem and in a blink of an eye, the water was instantly and cleanly turned into a thick shape of ice.

The ice fell into the ground with a light thud and they expected the room to get cold again but we didn't feel the room getting cold so I assume that he must've controlled Glacius well enough to not actually turn the room into a snowy wasteland.

Alem turned the water into ice by the time it reached half the distance towards my twin.

It's still a good record for him though since he's probably the only one who was able to conjure Glacius and turn the water into a clean and harmless block of ice.

"Hell yeah, that's my brother right there!" I shouted from the silence that the students had created in the classroom.

Everyone turned to look at me with a weird judging look on their faces while I was just clapping happily and grinning at my flustered and angry brother at the center of the classroom.

"T-Ten points t-to Slytherin f-for the w-wonderful cast o-of the s-spell." I can see that Quirrell is slightly gritting his teeth in annoyance because I was applauding my brother for his mad skills in magic.

Salazar, what's his problem?

I'm only supporting my brother, why is he pissed?

"Y-You're immediately g-graded for t-that performance, M-Mr. Rosewood. Y-You may re-return." Quirrell said as Alem nodded appreciatively at the DADA teacher and walked towards the Slytherin crowd, specifically towards me, with narrowed and embarrassed (E/C) eyes.

"Don't embarrass me like that! Merlin, you're just like mum!" Alem whispered in a hushed tone. I could only laugh at his blushing face, finding it funny because he looks like a squashed tomato.

"(Y-Y/N) Ro-Rosewood." Quirrell called for my name, making me take a small deep breath and change my facial expression into a serious one while feeling my blood rushing through my body hastily.

Once I stepped towards the center of the room, I faced Quirrell with an indifferent facial expression since I dared to not show him any fear or anxiousness.

Not to pricks like him.

With my wand held on my hand, I take another deep breath before practicing the pre-readied spells I have in my mind because I am definitely sure that Quirrell will end up throwing me a different spell.

It doesn't help that he knows how to do non-verbal magic so I can't react as fast I want to when I don't know the spell that he used.

And then, as if everything was in slow motion, I faintly saw the rushing waters sprouting out of Quirrell's wand.

I pursed my lips for a moment before I opened my mouth to produce the counter spell.

"Glacius." In an instant, the jet of water that Quirrell produced was immediately turned into a clean block of ice.

A snowy mist was emitted from the ice as it fell to the floor in a light thud.

I took small set of silent breathes with my (E/C) eyes dilated from surprise and disbelief.

Quirrell stood a good few meters across from me, also surprised as his eyes were cast downwards to where the ice was dropped.

The Aguamenti that Quirrell conjured hadn't even completely left his vicinity and it was already turned into a clean block of ice as it sat right in front of his feet.

"What the fu-" I murmured for a moment, wondering why the jet of waters from the water spell was immediately turned into ice before it can even reach half a distance towards me.

It wasn't until my eyes caught a small spark of fire circling the tip of my DADA teacher's wand.

With my reflexes as fast as ever due to a sudden rush of nervousness, I immediately raised my wand to protect myself from the unknown fire spell that Quirrell is about to throw on my face.

"Aguamenti!" I said as fast as I could while the fire spell, probably Incendio, that was fiercely being hurled towards me.

The fizzing sound of my Aguamenti engulfing the Incendio whole almost made me flinch as smoke erupted from the spot where the fire and water had mixed together.

Just then, before I can even take a gulp of air, my eyes once again had caught something in Quirrell's wand but there weren't any obvious signs to see what kind of spell he's going to throw towards me again.

It felt like time has stopped but I can still feel myself moving freely without any restraint.

I didn't want to take any chances to use any counter spell to block the opposing spell from Quirrell and so, I raised my wand once more as anxiety started to settle within my nerves.

"Protego!" Once my protection spell has been casted, everything in the room started to move freely once more and nothing felt like time has stopped moving.

Just before I started to get too caught up with observing my classroom, a blinding green flash of light has been bounced off of my protective barrier as the green and white lights in the spell vanished instantaneously when it made impact.

That familiar appearance of blinding green flashing lights from Quirrell's spell made me narrow my eyes in anger but also made me feel fearful for the DADA teacher.

The stuttering fucker just tried to kill me using Avada Kedavra.

Gasps and murmurs of confusion and awe erupted from the crowd in the classroom. In the corner of my eye, I caught Draco eyeing my stiff form in worry but with admiration as well.

I felt somewhat flattered but I cut my brief attention to the platinum blonde haired boy and returned it to the DADA teacher in front of me.

I grit my teeth in anger again, sweat dropping as Quirrell raised his wand up in the air.

His eyebrows were furrowed in frustration and his intention to kill me is just becoming visible every second.

With sweat dropping on my forehead, I raised my wand as well so I can counter Quirrell's spells once more but with a flash of a black robe fluttering between my sight, my posture softened and my arm was slightly lowered as I casted my gaze upwards to see the person who interfered this so-called assessment.

A sigh of relief escaped my chapped lips when Alem stood in front of me protectively with his wand gently pointed towards the turban-wearing man.

I straightened my back and completely lowered my wand since I feel somewhat safe now.

"I think that'll be enough for my sister/brother's assessment, professor." Alem's voice was slow yet menacing and it was, somewhat, resembling Snape's way of talking.

His tone came out like a warning and I can definitely tell, even if I'm right behind him, that his (E/C) eyes are hardened and glinting dangerously.

Quirrell kept his silence for a moment, switching his gazes from me and Alem until he turned his lips upward, almost forcing a smile as it came out to be crooked.

He also lowered his wand and kept his arms on his sides although his hand, that held his wand, seems to be twitching to cast another killing curse.

"I apologize. I-I must've gotten c-carried a-away..." I rolled my eyes at Quirrell's hideous attempt at apologizing because he clearly wasn't carried away. He intentionally wanted to kill me.

I mean, why else would you use the killing curse for?

You don't just use the killing curse and then say, "oops, I got carried away."

Alem didn't even have any time to hear another set of words from Quirrell's mouth as he grabbed my wrist and quickly dragged me back towards the crowd where the Slytherins are.

I can hear the murmurs and whispers clearly but not clear enough to actually know what they're saying.

Alem placed both of his slightly shaky hands on my shoulders as he anxiously flickered his eyes around my body in a frantic manner.

"Are you alright? You're not hurt, are you?" My brother's nervous tone almost made me laugh because I can hear his voice cracking but I held my laugh inside as I nod with a gentle smile.

Honestly, I'm only glad because Quirrell wasn't able to kill me unless I'm going to end up being dead in my real world as well.

And I'm not even past the first year yet.

"(Y/N), are you not exhausted from casting all those spells?" Draco's voice came from behind Alem and we both turned to look at the Malfoy heir, putting all of our attention towards him.

I get that he's worried so I chuckle and waved my hand around to show that I am fine although I do feel a little bit exhausted since those spells are quite advanced and my stamina "expansion" meditation thing isn't, probably, enough to actually let me use 3 advanced spells at the same time.

Then, I felt like someone is shooting me a glare. I used my instincts to see who's doing such things but I looked behind Draco and saw Pansy, her arms crossed and her eyes narrowed deeply, sending me a "terrifying" death glare as if I'm going to be scared of that.

I could only laugh internally as a reaction to Pansy's childish behavior until I realized that I still have to respond to Draco's question.

"I'm fine, Draco. Just overwhelmed, that's all." I throw him a small grin until I caught something hanging on his neck, that seemed to be reflecting the sunlight, shining beautifully.

It took me a while to realize that he's wearing the necklace that he gave to me as a Christmas present except he's wearing the other half of it.

I'm assuming this because I got the left part of the jewel while he's wearing the right part of it, which begs the question;

Wait, it's a couple necklace?

"You didn't tell me that the necklace has a pair." I pointed at the necklace hanging neatly on Draco's neck.

He blinked twice until his face morphed into a panicked expression and hastily tucked the green necklace underneath his uniform, pulling the clean white collar from his polo in order to create a small space for the necklace to be tucked in.

"O-Oh yes, I forgot to tell you that." He coughed nervously and threw his gaze somewhere else.

Judging from the way he's behaving, I don't think he forgot to tell me;

He didn't want to tell me.

Scoffing silently in my mind, I turned away from Draco without any intentions of pushing the matter further.

If he just wanted us to have a couple necklace, he should've just said so.

Geez, does he not have actual friends to do this with?

"(Y/N), it might be wise for you to take a rest after class." Alem spoke up after I finished talking to the platinum blonde haired boy in front of me.

I sigh and suddenly remembered that Alem tends to be a little bit overprotective when something bad happens to me.

"I'm fine, alright?" My response came out as if I'm annoyed and angry but it wasn't my intention so I immediately spoke up before Alem could open his mouth.

"I may not look like it but I can hold myself together." I give him a lighthearted chuckle just to ensure the fact that I am not annoyed with Alem at all.

He stared at me for a moment before smiling and turning his head towards the center of the classroom, where another student is being assessed by that prick, Quirrell.

I huff softly through my nose as I did the same while patiently waiting for the class to be over so I can finally feel at ease without having that DADA teacher throwing me death glares every minute or so.

»»----- ♡ -----««

The seasons are gradually changing at a fast rate that you can't even tell that it was winter just a few days ago as the snow began to melt and making everyone breathe the fresh air of the upcoming spring.

Soon, blooming flowers would be all over the place and the trees will be happily dancing along with the air as the leaves will rustle to compliment the gentle tingle of the winds passing them by.

At days like these,

I just want to curl up in my room and do nothing but sleep while contemplating my whole existence in this universe.

But I'm in Hogwarts and doing that is probably a waste of time because I have a shit ton of work to do and the school year is almost ending as the panic is starting to settle in my mind.

I haven't even figured out what Erised wants from me to make me stay in this dream world for another year.

They haven't shown up to scare the crap out of me for days now so I can't technically ask them for answers.

They intentionally removed my memories from my real world until the very next day but didn't even bother to return my memories of knowing what the 'price' I have to do so I don't have to die from an unknown dream figure.

I clicked my tongue while my feet dragged me over towards the library so I can borrow a Herbology book.

Professor Sprout has given us a task to do some research about edible plants that can be dangerous and also very helpful.

I'm not the best when it comes to gardening since I always tend to pot the wrong plant in the wrong soil so I don't really expect my grades for Herbology to be high, even with my constant efforts to try and be good at it.

While I was about to drown in my own thoughts of planning on what to do for the rest of the day, my eyes had caught Neville standing in front of the entrance to the library, shaking up with fear being present in his expression.

I tilted my head to the side as I stopped walking, wondering what's gotten Neville so scared. I started to drag my feet towards my destined location but this time, on a slower pace since I wanted to see what Neville is looking at.

As I got closer and started to see why Neville is scared, I almost brought my hand to my face as I should've expected the reason why the shy Gryffindor is shaking in his shoes.

"Ah, I've been wanting to practice the leg-locker curse on someone and it's such a coincidence that you showed up, Longbottom!" Draco Malfoy stood there, smirking devilishly with his silver eyes almost glinting in mischief as he looked at Neville.

The two pig heads, Crabbe and Goyle, stood behind him while chuckling as well. Neville's fear must be amusing to them.

I rolled my eyes and hastily walked over towards the group just as Draco raised his wand to cast the spell on Neville.

My eyes faintly caught the sight of the Gryffindor boy shutting his eyes close and I frowned at this, wondering why he's always been treated this way from other students.

"I'm gonna need you to stop right there, Draco." I stood between the two, facing Draco with my eyes half lidded but my smile as gentle as ever.

The Malfoy has been caught off guard and he definitely didn't expect me interfering with whatever he's about to do to Neville as he slightly stumbled back and lowered his wand.

"Placing a curse on someone is not very friendly and will, probably, not be tolerated by professors." The two pig heads in the back exchanged each other a look before turning to look at Draco, who's now frowning in both anger and disappointment.

I stole a glance at the chain, from the necklace that he gave me, on his neck before sighing and tucking both of my hands on the pocket of my Slytherin robes.

"We may be friends but I do not tolerate this kind of behavior from anyone. You're lucky that that's all you did to Longbottom but if you ever cross a line and do the same thing to someone else, I'll be forced to tell the head of the house of the student you were terrorizing and possibly give you a week's worth of detention." I stated which earned a hard glare from both Crabbe and Goyle, who took a step forward towards me in a threatening manner.

"Piss off, Rosewood; this has nothing to do with you!" Goyle frowned angrily and almost wanted to tackle me to the ground.

"What kind of a Slytherin are you; defending a Gryffindor like that!?" Crabbe scowled after Goyle finished talking.

Ah, there we go; he pulled up the Slytherin stereotype card.

I rolled my eyes with a mocking scoff escaping my lips and raised my arms, crossing them as I looked over at the two boys behind Draco.

"Actually, Longbottom is my friend so technically, I _do_ have something to do with this." I said, addressing Goyle's words as he gritted his teeth, getting fed up with me and my resilient attitude towards my own house.

"Also, if you still haven't figured this out yet; I don't partake in any of that house rivalry garbage that most of you are participating in." I sigh and loosened my arms, dropping both of them on my sides.

"Just because I'm a Slytherin, doesn't mean I can't be friends with Gryffindors and just because you two are huge idiots, doesn't mean you can be a complete ass to other students." As soon as I finished talking, Crabbe and Goyle's faces were immediately contorted into pure rage as their faces were red from anger.

They took another threatening step towards me with their fists tightened as if they were attempting to hit me or something.

I faintly heard Neville squeaking in fear behind me and I rolled my eyes at this.

I was ready to pull my wand out of my robe as I take a step back to defend myself from these two dinguses.

But to my surprise, Draco stopped them with a single raise of an arm, blocking them from walking over towards me and Longbottom.

I looked over to him in order to see what he was planning to do with me but confusion settled within my features once he just stood there, staring at me with observing, half-lidded silver eyes.

"Go." A single word from the platinum blonde haired boy made me straighten my posture and soften my expression.

He didn't smile or anything which made it odd so I just assume that he's just extremely pissed that I interfered with his attempts of trying to curse Neville.

"Let's go, Neville." I tap the Gryffindor's wrist as I started to walk away, beckoning for him to come and follow me. I should probably escort him towards the Gryffindor common room because there's a chance that those three might creep up from behind Neville as soon as I'm gone.

Neville shortly followed, running towards my side while he played with his fingers out of nervousness.

In the corner of my eye, I can see him flickering his eyes towards me from time to time and it's clear that he wants to strike up a conversation, he's just too scared to do so.

"What were you doing in the library?" I spared Neville a chance, giving him the opportunity to speak his mind about certain things that just happened a minute ago.

He flinched at my sudden interaction with him but he complied nonetheless.

"I-I was looking for edible plants related books... for our Herbology research..." He replied, voice still cracking and trembling from the anxiousness that's starting to seep from his expression.

I hum in amazement, looking at Neville with a gentle smile so I can also reassure him and let him know that he has nothing to be nervous around when he's with me.

"What a coincidence; I was on my way to the library for the same reasons as well." Chuckling, I place my hand on the back of my neck sheepishly since I can feel the conversation flame dying out.

I don't want this conversation to get awkward between the two of us and I don't, exactly, rely on Neville to carry this conversation by himself either.

"Um... (Y-Y/--)..." He spoke up but immediately stopped himself. " _Rosewood_." Neville corrected but I let out another light-hearted chuckle as I pat his back gently for a few times.

"It's alright, you can call me (Y/N). I addressed you by your first name a while ago so I think it's fair that you do the same thing too." I said, making Neville smile appreciatively and it seems like he's growing comfortable around me as he stopped playing with his fingers while we were on our way to the Gryffindor common room.

"(Y/N), how can you stand up to Malfoy like that?" The Gryffindor boy wondered while I gently tapped my chin to think of what and how I can respond to Neville's question.

"Well, is there anything wrong with standing up to people like him?" I shrug while casting my gaze somewhere else as I raised my arms and placed both of them behind me, intertwining my fingers together before resting my head at the palm of my hands.

"It's not that. It's the fact that you always seem to be composed and... fearless when you stand up to him as if everything he says and does doesn't bother you at all." Neville explained clearly and I hum understandingly, now flickering my eyes towards the Gryffindor's way.

He held a sad smile on his face while his eyes were casted downwards, almost making me feel sorry for the young Gryffindor.

"I could never be as brave as you. I don't even know why the sorting hat placed me in Gryffindor in the first place." Neville chuckles sadly as he rubbed his arm shyly, his smile eventually fading into a frown.

I stare at the Gryffindor for a moment until I stopped walking and took out my wand from inside my robe, concentrating for a moment without paying any attention to Neville.

"(Y/N), what are you doing?" He asked as he also stopped walking to see what I'm up to.

I take a deep breath while trying to picture a clear vision of red roses in my mind before opening my mouth to speak.

"Orchideous." I said and as if I was a magician from a magic show, a bouquet of red roses sprouted from the tip of my wand as some petals from the roses scattered around us.

I heard Neville gasp in both amazement and surprise at the spell. I glanced over towards the Gryffindor with a smile before standing up straight.

"Look on the bright side, Neville." I began to spin around slowly, making more rose petals scatter around the vicinity as the strong, velvety-like scent of roses starts to linger around my nose.

"You shouldn't compare me with you because you also have things that only you can do. You're not as spineless as you think you are." I stopped, my back turned against Neville. I tilted my head towards the young boy, grinning from ear to ear.

"The sorting hat placed you in Gryffindor because, deep down, it knows you're meant to achieve courage, bravery and recognition. You might not achieve it now but I can assure you that the future holds way too many things that you can't believe are true." I chuckle before looking up to the ceiling, placing both of my hands on the wand before throwing it up into the air, releasing all of the roses and scattered petals that accumulated from the tip of my wand.

"So you needn't to worry about that, Neville." Once my eyes had caught the sight of my wand falling down towards me, I raised both of my hands up in the air to catch the thin wooden object, making sure that it won't pass through my hand or slip out.

"Because you can also be just like your parents when you grow up." Once I caught my wand, I turned around to face Neville again and I expected him to have a surprised expression on his face.

But I didn't expect him to be blushing softly while his eyes are twinkling in admiration.

"...Did my motivation speech go too far?" I mumble, feeling the awkwardness seep between the two of us.

My eyes followed a small, single rose, that slightly resembled a form of a sessile flower, had floated down to Neville's head but I don't think he noticed yet.

"N-No... I..." He stuttered, his words trailing off into the distance as he looked away in embarrassment while the blush on his cheeks deepened.

"Thank you..." He managed to squeak out and I blink for a few times, wondering if what he said was correct since his voice is too soft and small. Nonetheless, my mind accepted that he did thank me so I smile sheepishly as I placed my wand back inside my robe.

Neville's shoulders jumped, a nervous and flustered look suddenly on his face as he looked around him and saw that we were a few walks away until we reach the Gryffindor common room, not counting the moving staircases.

"I-I'll walk from here, (Y/N)... Thank you," He gulped for a moment before continuing. "for accompanying me."

Chuckling, I raised my hand to wave him goodbye. "Anytime." I said, quoting Harry when he released the boa constrictor at the zoo at the early parts of the first movie.

The Gryffindor boy nodded briefly before speed walking his way towards the Gryffindor common room, that's not too far into the distance.

Meanwhile, I just want to curl up into the corner and disappear from existence since I feel like I might've creeped Neville out because of that whole rose-throwing session.

I went too far and I bet that the next time when me and Neville meet, he's going to be super uncomfortable of me.

I just sighed, a blush of embarrassment tinting my cheeks as I walked away and back to the library since the reason why I'm even out of the common room in the first place, is to get a book for my Herbology research.

Ah, I always get sidetracked by certain things.

»»----- ♡ -----««

As the (H/C) haired girl/boy walked away with Neville following meekly behind them, Goyle clicked his tongue in frustration as he loosened his posture and stared at the retreating forms of the two students down the hall.

He wasn't pleased with the oldest Rosewood at all and it's quite obvious that nobody really admires (Y/N) for sticking up to other students that aren't Slytherin and a pureblood for that matter.

An example of this is Crabbe, who also happens to be a pureblood. Despite being roommates with the Rosewood twins, which is a chance for them to get closer and hopefully be friends, he held contempt and dislike for (Y/N), saying that they're worse than the Weasleys for being a "blood traitor"

"What's their problem?" Goyle huffs a sigh of irritation from his nostrils, averting his view and returning his attention back to Draco.

He also couldn't comprehend the reason why he had let them go just like that.

The Malfoy that he knows wouldn't just sit idly and let someone tell him off as easily as (Y/N) did. 

He would talk back with a cheeky remark along with throwing them a couple of jinxes and curses if they went too far.

"Leave them be; they're nothing more than a blood traitor." Crabbe sneers and let the grip on his hand loosen as he did wanted to jab (Y/N) square in the face.

However, the two seems to be unaware of the young Malfoy's silver eyes darkening the more they continue to talk rubbish about a certain Rosewood.

"If anything, it doesn't make them any less different from a mudblood." The thick-necked pureblood added which earned a chuckle from Goyle, nodding marginally while agreeing with what his friend had said.

"That is true. Quite a disgrace in the sacred twenty-nine if I do say so myself." Goyle's chuckle eventually turned into small light-hearted laughs as he said that.

Crabbe laughs as well while nudging the tall Slytherin's arm while glancing over at Draco in order to acknowledge his presence.

The platinum blonde haired boy's teeth were pressed together as he kept his mouth close in order to not show any full-fledged anger towards the two Slytherins behind him.

Eventually, Draco has had enough of them poking fun of (Y/N) as he turned around, which immediately made Crabbe and Goyle's laughter end abruptly.

"You are showing disrespect to a prodigy from a superior and a high-class wizard family that positions higher than your families combined; you have no right to talk to them like that." Draco attempted to hide his aggravation towards his friends but seemingly failed due to his bitter and indignant tone.

Crabbe and Goyle had noticed this and turned to look at each other, sharing a look of perplexity before turning their eyes back to the frowning Malfoy with a nervous expression carved onto their faces.

They are aware that Draco is angry and despite his tone holding back a few bits of aggravation, Crabbe and Goyle didn't miss the slight growl that emitted from the superior Slytherin's voice.

If there's anything that Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle know, it's to never make Draco mad unless you want to face the consequences.

Even though the two didn't respond to Draco's statement, he couldn't help but let the bubbling anger inside him rise even more as he already got a hint that they won't bother to apologize for what they said to (Y/N), much less for what they were about to do to them just a while ago.

Draco fumed, gently curling his fingers before tightening the grip on his hand and forming a fist.

The young Malfoy contemplated about punching the two for showing disrespect to someone who he's interested to but restrained himself for it could cause a huge fuss between the three and will surely grab his father's attention.

"I should give you two a warning;" Draco leaned closer towards Crabbe and Goyle, narrowing his eyes with a malicious glint spread across his silver irises.

The two Slytherins flinched and sweat dropped, not daring to take a step back or lean away from Draco as they feared that he might do something to them when they will.

"If any of you dare to attempt and hurt (Y/N) Rosewood in any way, you will answer to me and I shall see to it that you will never do it again." The young Malfoy's voice was deep, slow and very menacing which earned a hard and nervous gulp from Crabbe and Goyle and they both looked like they want to faint.

"Take that as a warning, you two." Draco leaned away from the two with a satisfied smile on his lips, almost ignoring the fact that he straight up just threatened Crabbe and Goyle.

To him though, it wasn't even something that he considered to be 'bad'.

If it's to keep (Y/N) safe from any harm, he wouldn't even think that murder is a crime.

Crabbe and Goyle started to shiver, subtly, in fear.

The two Slytherins didn't open their mouths to respond to Draco but only nodded hastily, indicating that they understood what Draco wants from them and took a mental note that they should just stay away from (Y/N) as a precaution.

Once Draco was satisfied with their answers, he turned around and started to walk away without waiting for Crabbe and Goyle as his mind started to drift away deep into his thoughts, which is where his dark thoughts for (Y/N) surfaced and dragged him further into the pits of his so-called 'crush' for them.

»»----- ♡ -----««

The next morning came, making the students of the school file into the Great Hall for a nice, delicious breakfast before classes begin.

Harry, Ron and Hermione already went to the Great Hall as early as they could, the three having the intention to talk to (Y/N) about a certain information that they were able to find, thanks to Neville giving him the card from the chocolate frog that Harry gave him yesterday.

Unfortunately, it took them around thirty minutes before (Y/N) walked inside the Great Hall with their brother silently following behind them.

They look tired and seemed like they wanted to collapse to the floor.

_(Y/N) clearly didn't sleep very well last night._

They stayed up all night reading Herbology related books in order to add more information to their research and it's already hard enough as it is without Alem helping them with the research as he also has some things he needs to focus on instead of letting (Y/N) get used to Alem helping them all the time.

But Merlin, even Harry thought that their haggard and tired appearance is godsend.

Hermione waved her hand once she saw the Rosewood scan the Great Hall with their half lidded eyes.

As (Y/N) caught the trio beckoning for them to come and go to the Gryffindor table, they scratched their head and turned to Alem, telling him that they'll go sit with Hermione this morning and briefly apologized.

Alem flickered his eyes towards the golden trio for a moment but stared at Hermione for a little bit longer before nodding at his twin, smiling and giving them his approval.

(Y/N) smiled tiredly before walking over to the Gryffindor table where Hermione, Harry and Ron sat.

"Good morning, (Y/N). I assume that you didn't sleep well last night." Hermione smiled nervously as (Y/N) sat next to Ron, groaning and ruffling their (H/C) hair out of frustration.

"There's nothing 'good' this morning, Mione. I legit want to die from the lack of sleep and research I've been doing." (Y/N) modern accent slipped from their mouth while resting their head between their arms, nestling and burying their face inside.

Harry frowned and felt bad for the Slytherin. He could, at least, do something to cheer them up.

He glanced around the table for a moment to see if coffees are present in the table in order to relieve (Y/N) and keep them awake for now, at least.

"Don't say that." Hermione scolded with a sigh which made (Y/N) grumble and realize how much of a mom she can be when it comes to certain things like having a dark humor.

Ron ate a piece of his toast for a moment before pulling the plate of nearly lined fresh toast towards (Y/N), hopefully thinking that the scent of a freshly baked toast will be enough to raise their spirits up.

"Yeah, go and have a bit of toast, (Y/N). You'll feel better when you're full." The red haired boy smiled when (Y/N) raised their head from their arms, eyeing the plate full of toast that's sitting in front of them.

Harry, meanwhile, managed to find a cup of coffee nearby and gently took the hot drink from its original spot before handing it over to the sleep deprived Slytherin.

"Here, you might need this." Once the familiar and intoxicating scent of warm coffee hits (Y/N)'s nose, their eyes twinkled and almost cried tears of joy as they hastily but gently grabbed the cup of coffee from Harry's hands.

"Oh thank god, I thought I was gonna have to torture myself by trying to stay awake for the rest of the day." Their voice wobbled, making it seem like they're about to cry but that's not what Harry was focused on;

He's blushing softly due to the fact that their hands just touched each other and the needy grip from (Y/N)'s hands created a fuzzy feeling in his stomach.

Harry grumbled silently, tearing his eyes away from the three in order to let the color on his cheeks fade before he can even face them again.

"Ah, that's some good fucking shit right there." (Y/N) sighs in satisfaction after taking a gentle long sip from their cup of coffee as they swear unintentionally, grabbing the nervous and shocked attention of any nearby students that heard the Slytherin's words.

Even one male Ravenclaw, who just passed by (Y/N), threw them a look of judgement and disbelief as he walked away and contemplating the Slytherin's word choices and wondering why a first year would say such a thing.

"Merlin, (Y/N). Do you often swear casually without being troubled by it?" Hermione sweat drops and awkwardly grabbed her large book from her side before placing it in front of her.

(Y/N), who didn't even realize that they swore just now until Hermione mentioned it, chuckles nervously and places the cup of coffee on the table.

"Uh... I don't mean to do it intentionally. I don't even realize that I'm swearing until someone else points it out." (Y/N) mumbles shyly while Harry and Ron just threw each other an amused look.

"Well, you should be more aware with your words often, (Y/N). It's not very nice to hear, especially from students like us." Hermione scolded once more and (Y/N) rolled their eyes, taking another sip from their coffee while casting their gaze somewhere else other than the trio.

 _If only she knew that 11 year old kids swear all the time back in my world, you'd think that they would already get sacked by their parents_ , the Slytherin thought as they placed their cup on the table once more and adjusting themselves on their seat.

"Anyway, what did you call me here for? It must be pretty important." (Y/N) asked and noticed the large book that's positioned in front of Hermione.

 _Oh_ , (Y/N) thought and realized that they must've found out what Nicolas Flamel is and the item that Fluffy is guarding.

"We were able to find a huge information about Nicolas Flamel _and_ the item that the dog is guarding." The female Gryffindor said and flipped her book open, eager to show (Y/N) what they have found yesterday.

(Y/N), however, only gave a deadpanned look as they stared at the open boon in front of them.

"Oh." This earned a confusing look from Hermione as she looked up from the book and threw the young Slytherin a glare.

"I expected you to be more... surprised and eager, to be honest." She mumbled but shook her head before (Y/N) said anything, immediately dropping off the topic that she's going to put up between her and (Y/N).

"It seems that Dumbledore and Flamel are acquaintances too. The card on the chocolate frog said so." Harry piped in on the conversation so he wouldn't be left out, pulling Dumbledore's card from his pocket and handing it over to (Y/N) so they would understand things more clearly.

When (Y/N) took the card out of Harry's hand, they immediately flipped the card and began to read the content as their (E/C) eyes scanned the card.

_**Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel.** _

With a hum, (Y/N) flipped the card once more and observed the 3D picture of Dumbledore as they moved the card around to see the angles of the picture before handing it back to Harry with an appreciative smile.

"Anyway, it's said here that Nicolas Flamel," Hermione intervened, "is the only known maker of the Sorcerer's Stone!"

"Oh, the Sorcerer's Stone, huh?" (Y/N) rested their head on their palm while glancing around the Gryffindor table to see if they can find some apple juice. "Isn't that the stone that can transform any metal into gold and can also produce a very rare elixir that can make you immortal called the Elixir of Life?"

"How can you and Hermione know what the Sorcerer's Stone was as soon as it was mentioned?" Ron pouted. "Harry and I didn't even know the importance of that stone until Hermione told us."

"Unlike you two, I actually read." (Y/N) lied, smirking since they can't expose their knowledge in the magical world that Erised threw them into. "If you ask my brother if he knows what the stone is and how it works, I can guarantee you that he can answer your question in full detail while adding a bunch of unnecessary details that add nothing to the question at all."

Ron rolled his eyes while silently scoffing, forgetting that (Y/N) and Alem Rosewood often have books pressed against their noses.

The redhead wouldn't be surprised if Hermione happens to be their long lost sister as the three have similarities when it comes to reading.

Except (Y/N) seems to be more laid-back than the other two.

"So you're saying that the stone is what Snape or Quirrell wants, then?" (Y/N) asked, immediately receiving a nod from the trio.

"Don't tell me that you think that it's not plausible-" Ron grumbled while internally bracing himself for another debate that (Y/N) is, probably, going to start.

"Woah chill, Ronald Weasley." (Y/N) stopped Ron from talking with their modern accent slipping out. "I didn't even say anything. To be honest, that kinda makes a lot of sense if you think about it,"

The Slytherin took a small breath before continuing and raking their fingers through their messy (H/C) hair.

"One, Dumbledore and Flamel are friends. It'd make sense if Flamel asked Dumbledore to keep the stone safe and since Dumbledore doesn't want to go to public just to get the stone from Flamel, he must've had Hagrid to fetch it for him in Gringotts on the day when you went to Diagon Alley with him, Harry." (Y/N) looked at the raven haired Gryffindor to confirm this story and with a nod of awe, the Slytherin continued and tore their eyes away from Harry.

"The stone is a very important and rare item; anyone would want to get their hands on it," They closed their eyes. "Which begs the question, assuming that Snape is the one who's after it;" (Y/N) opened their eyelids, their deadpan look suddenly turning into a serious one as if the question that they're about to ask will surely make the other three think carefully.

"Why would he want the stone? Or to put it simply, what's his reason? his motive?" (Y/N) eyed the trio to see if they have any answers for the question that they just asked.

Ron gently placed his toast down, suddenly taking the situation seriously while moving some bits of his red hair away from his eyes.

"Maybe he just wants the stone for himself...?" The redhead's response came out as a question with a light shrug coming from his shoulders.

(Y/N) sighs and points their finger towards Ron but not in an accusing way.

"No person, in their right mind, would attempt to steal a very important item such as the Sorcerer's Stone just because they want it for themselves." They told and retracted their finger away, tucking their hand back inside their arms.

"The person's motive could be anything; selling the stone, using it for illegal trades, make themselves immortal though I don't really see the appeal of wanting to live forever and why many people would want to commit such a thing," (Y/N) grabbed a toast from the plate and brought it up to their lips while Harry and Hermione were in deep thoughts.

The Sorcerer's Stone is an item that can turn any metal into gold and is an essential item to brew the Elixir of Life, an elixir that can make the drinker immortal. If one were to try and steal it, there should be a reason why.

What (Y/N) said makes sense;

_No one would just take the stone and put it up in their room for display._

Considering the abilities of the stone, the two suspects that the four students are keeping their eyes on must be using the stone for bad motives.

"Unless... they want to steal the stone for someone else. An accomplice, you might even say." The golden trio's mouths gaped at (Y/N)'s words. They weren't surprised because (Y/N)'s hypothesis is unbelievable and far from the conclusion;

No, they're surprised because that could also be the motive.

A specific motive, to be exact.

"How does your mind work so well with these kind of things?" Ron chuckles in amazement, slowly closing his opened mouth which made him earn a smirk from (Y/N).

"My mother often tells me that; when it comes to structuring a strategy, you should think from the enemy's perspective. That way, you can be steps ahead of your enemy and they won't even have a chance to lay a finger on you." (Y/N) obviously lied.

No one instructed or told them that since they learned to adapt by themselves without anyone else.

Harry's green eyes landed on (Y/N) side frame, taking his time admiring the young Slytherin and wondering why an intellect like them hasn't been sorted into Ravenclaw.

They're too nice to be sorted into Slytherin.

"Anyway, now that we know what the item is, are we still going to hang in the library to add more information?" (Y/N) crossed their arms but not before dusting off any bread crumbs from their hands and their oddly oversized Slytherin robe.

"Of course." Hermione answered, cocking her eyebrow up in confusion and wondered why (Y/N) even asked a question that has a very obvious answer. (Y/N) sighs defeatedly at this and hung their head low in distress.

"Knew it." They murmured before jerking their head back up to face the female Gryffindor.

"Look, I don't want to be a party pooper but I'm really busy with schoolwork right now." (Y/N) smiled apologetically to the three of them although their apologetic smile wasn't as effective when it came to Hermione, who only shot them a light hard glare.

"I promise that I'll come to help you three as soon as I'm done with my Herbology research. I just don't want to get torn between solving this mystery and doing school works. If you haven't noticed; I'm really bad at multitasking." (Y/N) emphasized the 'bad' while avoiding Hermione's glare.

"We don't mind." Harry smiles in reassurance, giving the Slytherin the softest look he can manage with his pale and childish features.

Ron and Hermione looked a bit shocked to see Harry let (Y/N) do whatever they want and speak for the other two.

"I expect you to be there in the match next week though, right?" The raven haired boy asked which made (Y/N) surprised for a moment since Cedric asked them the same thing.

The Slytherin grumbled and wondering who they should root for in the upcoming Quidditch match.

(Y/N) has a pretty noticeable crush on Cedric Diggory, who also happens to be in the Hufflepuff Quidditch team so of course they'd want to root for him but on the other hand, Harry is their friend and he's new to Quidditch so he could use all of the support he can get.

"Oh, I nearly forgot that the match is coming up. Time flies really fast, huh?" (Y/N) laughs and played dumb for a moment.

Ron's face paled and became full of dread as he remembered who was going to be the referee of the match this month.

Hermione frowned as well, shooting Harry a look of worry.

"Yeah and Snape is refereeing this time." Ron grumbles as he scanned the table where the professors sat.

He quickly tore his eyes away once he saw Snape eating quietly with the same deadpanned look on his face.

"...so?" (Y/N) tilted their head to the side, not finding any issue with letting Snape be the referee.

"(Y/N), you do know that Snape despises Gryffindors, right?" Hermione asks and stopped herself for a while before opening her mouth to speak again. "Well, more on Harry than the house itself but yes."

"And considering that Gryffindor won against Slytherin in the last match, I'd doubt he'd even let Gryffindor win against Hufflepuff." Harry interjected with a frown.

"I reckon he's going to make Harry's broom go crazy again-"

"Hey now, Weasley. I know that Snape tends to hold grudges against students and often belittle them but don't say that as if he's keen on endangering a student's life to the point of death." (Y/N) huffed angrily towards the redhead, stopping him from saying anything else to the head of the Slytherin house.

Ron rolled his eyes and didn't say anything after (Y/N) stopped him and instead, he just ate his food silently.

The Slytherin glanced at the trio, who still had a look of worry and anxiety on their faces.

It couldn't be helped; Snape's visible disdain for the Gryffindor house is so strong that there's no doubt that he'll, at least, try to do something after the Gryffindor team won against Slytherin last time.

With Harry in the team, the student that Snape dislikes the most, the chances of the raven haired boy being humiliated is high. No wonder he's very nervous.

With a sigh, (Y/N) opened their mouth to speak once more.

"Well, if you're worried that Snape will do something, even though he won't, I can assure you that professors will also come to watch the game so I highly doubt that he'll try to be unfair towards Gryffindor when there are professors watching." (Y/N) assured Harry with a smile, placing their hand above Harry's in a comforting manner which made him look up to the (H/C) haired girl/boy with a gentle blush spreading across his cheeks.

This went unnoticed by (Y/N) though as they retracted their hand away from Harry's.

Ron and Hermione, however, noticed this and shifted their gazes to the Slytherin and the Gryffindor back to back with a teasing smile growing in their lips every second.

"Anyway, you can expect me to be there, Harry though I'm going to cheer for both teams." Harry's smile dropped when (Y/N) said this and instead, it was replaced with a somewhat confused look.

 _Are they friends with someone from Hufflepuff?_ Harry thought.

He was about to ask (Y/N) but hesitated since he didn't want to act as if he wants (Y/N) to just root for him although that is what he wants in the first place.

"Do you know someone in Hufflepuff or...?" Ron asked in Harry's place, which made the raven haired boy internally breathe a sigh of relief.

"Yes, Cedric Diggory." A light tint of pink dusted across (Y/N)'s cheeks and that detail is enough to make Harry understand as he glanced over towards the Hufflepuff table in spite.

**_Who, in the bloody hell, is Cedric Diggory?_ **

Harry's green eyes narrowed while scanning the Hufflepuff students and trying to identify who Cedric is.

"Oh, the Hufflepuff seeker." Ron monotonously answered Harry's question, which made the raven haired boy frown but silently scoff.

 _I think it's very clear who the best seeker is between the two of us._ Harry spitefully thought to himself and grabbed a fork, stabbing his food aggressively.

I'll be sure to impress (Y/N) on the match and make them realize that I'm better than that Hufflepuff seeker.

He flicked his narrowed eyes over to (Y/N) joyful form and he immediately softened up, smiling gently while his eyes slightly twinkled in admiration for the Slytherin in front of him.

In the distance or more specifically, in the Hufflepuff table, Cedric managed to find (Y/N) in the sea of Gryffindor students and he, unknowingly, smiled to himself when he saw that they are laughing and showed to be very friendly to other people despite being a Slytherin themselves.

He heard from his housemates yesterday that they managed to fend off Draco Malfoy and his lackeys from cursing Neville Longbottom in the library and he admired the Slytherin's bravery and act of righteousness.

Cedric couldn't help but try to learn more about (Y/N) but not to the point of stalking of course.

He can't even find it in himself to actually come up to them and start a casual conversation.

Despite Cedric being very friendly to others, he's very shy.

There's just something about (Y/N) that draws him in and this something is what (Y/N) is aware of and is, intentionally, hiding it from everyone else.

That sad gaze is no coincidence,

(Y/N) knows something that no one else knows.

And even though this mystery is what made Cedric grow an odd interest to them in the first place, there are other reasons as to why this Hufflepuff is just drawn to (Y/N) like a magnet that sticks to metal.

Cedric shook his head and continued to listen to his peers' conversation. He had no intention to think of such... weird things to an 11 year old student.

He's 14, for Merlin's sake and he has no time for other unnecessary thoughts as the match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff is growing near.

And everyone is just as excited as he is.

»»----- ♡ -----««

_"I-I'm so sorry!" I snapped my eyes open to the sound of a young child apologizing to me with a nervous tone visible on their voice._

_I looked around the bustling city of London for a moment, watching other people pass by me before glancing down to see the appearance of the child._

_It was a little girl and she looked like she's no older than 10 years old._

_She wore a peach, frilly skirt that reached up to her knees and a cream colored blouse with a ribbon decorating the sides of her puffs on her blouse._

_The girl also had shoulder-length hair with raven colored locks framing her white face._

_Some bits of her hair were sticking out but it wasn't very noticeable which makes her hair look as if it's clean and combed._

_When the girl opened her eyes, I was immediately greeted by her (E/C) colored eyes. I gulped silently, finding it freaky that her eyes are very similar to mine._

_"...mom/dad? What are you doing here?" Her facial expression turned into confusion, straightening herself and tilting her head to the side while eyeing me curiously._

_I didn't know how to respond to her question._

_Did she just assume that I'm her parent or something?_

_"...look kid, I know I'm almost 18 years old but it doesn't mean that I'm old enough to actually have children." My slightly offended tone threw the girl off as she looked surprised and glanced around her surroundings as if she was looking for someone._

_"W-Wait... Um... So you're not my-?" The girl stammered, looking back up to me with those creepy (E/C) eyes that look like mine._

_"I don't even know who you are." I answered, tucking my hands in my jeans and started to walk away from the girl._

_Geez, I just came here to London to see if I can get a scholarship here from a random university but I didn't expect a random kid to just walk up to me and assume that I'm their parent._

_Now I'm starting to think that going outside and traveling is a very bad idea and I should've just stayed home and binge-watch Harry Potter._

_"Cressie, where have you been?" I heard an older boy ask in the distance but I didn't bother to turn around and take a look to see who he is._

_Judging from the way he addressed the girl by her nickname, I can only assume that he must be her older brother or something._

_I drifted my attention away from the children as I continued to walk on the sidewalk, careful not to bump or grab the attention of other people as I walk past them with my mind continuously thinking if I should just take a 10 hour nap once I'm back in my motel room._

»»----- ♡ -----««

With my eyelids gently fluttering open and a tired groan escaping my lips, I rubbed my eyes and wiped the drool that trickled down to my chin.

I cringe once I saw my saliva on the sleeve of my robe and immediately cleaned it off from a nearby blanket.

I don't know who that blanket belonged to and I honestly don't care as I threw the blanket back to a random bed.

I managed to fall asleep while writing my Herbology research and thank Salazar that my parchment was safe from the villain called drool.

Otherwise, I'd have to pass my drool-infested Herbology research to Professor Sprout.

It did became slightly crumpled though due to the weight from my arms and head.

"Ah shit." I murmured while trying to straighten the slightly crumpled parchment.

All of a sudden, I take a look at the clock located on the top of the door and my face paled.

"aH SHIT!" I exclaimed and didn't even bother to finish straightening the parchment as I dashed towards my nightstand and grabbed my Slytherin scarf, hastily and sloppily wrapping it around my neck.

The Hufflepuff vs. Gryffindor match is about to start in one minute and I can't lose the opportunity to watch Harry and Cedric play together.

Goddamn it, why didn't anyone bother to wake me up?

I combed my hair using my fingers since I know that it's messy after taking that abnormally long nap.

I didn't even bother to look at the mirror since I already walked towards the door and closed it, hastily making my way towards the Quidditch pitch without tripping into random rocks on the way.

"Oh sweet baby Newt, I hope I'm not late." I thought as I started to run towards the pitch, not caring if I end up getting tired by the time I get there.

I don't prioritize my health when it comes to things like this. Don't judge me.

»»----- ♡ -----««

The pitch echoed with the sounds of students cheering for their respective houses.

Both Gryffindor and Hufflepuff cheered as hard as they could, holding up banners and showing off some spells that take on the shape of their house's mascot.

On the Gryffindor stand, Ron and Hermione scanned the area for any signs of a certain Rosewood twin.

A patch of (H/C) hair can be seen from a short distance away from them but they frowned once they realized it's just Alem Rosewood, (Y/N)'s twin brother.

Hermione sighed and turned her attention towards the field while tuning out all of the students' loud cheers.

She looked at the red haired boy beside him from the corner of her brown eyes, examining the way he is acting while discreetly hiding his wand.

"Now, don't forget, it's Locomotor Mortis." Hermione muttered loudly for Ron to hear as he nodded and slipped his wand under his sleeves, careful not to let it fall.

"I know." Ron rolled his eyes and crossed his arms in order to hold the wand up under his sleeves. "Don't nag."

The two Gryffindors scanned the area one last time for any sign of (Y/N) approaching them but they eventually gave up and grumbled silently while wondering what's taking (Y/N) so long.

While Hermione was preoccupied with her question, Ron casts his gaze towards an angry and a pissed off Snape.

The Potions master looks like he's an inch away from cursing someone.

"I've never seen Snape look so mean." The red haired boy told Hermione, slightly chuckling as teams marched onto the field with their own brooms on their hands. "Look, they're off- ow!"

Ron winced as he felt a slightly painful poke on the back of his head. He gently rubbed the area, turning his head around with narrowed eyes to see who could've done such a thing, accidentally or not.

He felt his teeth gritting when he saw Draco Malfoy smirking and looking down at him with Crabbe and Goyle following shortly behind him.

"Oh, sorry, Weasley, didn't see you there." He scoffed and stood where he was, crossing his arms and watching the game for a while until he grinned broadly, seemingly having an idea to piss Ron off more.

Without (Y/N)'s presence.

"Wonder how long Potter's going to stay on his broom this time? Anyone wanna bet?" Draco chuckled devilishly, turning to look at Ron, who's focusing on the game so he can hold himself back from punching the platinum blonde haired Slytherin. "What about you, Weasley?"

Ron didn't answer but he, sure as hell, wanted to and punch him in the process as well.

His eyes twitched in annoyance when Snape awarded the Hufflepuff team a penalty because George Weasley, the Gryffindor team's beater, had hit a Bludger at him.

Hermione pursed her lips and she looks like she's on the edge of her seat with her fingers crossed hopefully as her brown eyes watched Harry dive around the field in a circle, searching for the golden Snitch.

"You know how I think they choose people for the Gryffindor team?" Draco said loudly this time, using this opportunity to let off some anger that he's felt for the golden trio for spending too much time with a certain Rosewood twin.

Meanwhile on the game, Snape just gave Hufflepuff another penalty for no reason at all whatsoever.

"Malfoy, stop that." Alem, who was standing a few steps away from Draco piped up. He had his arms crossed but his fingers were curled in anger.

The young Rosewood is also on the edge of punching his Slytherin roommate.

However, Draco paid no heed to (Y/N)'s brother, letting his frustration out even more towards the Gryffindors in front of him.

"It's the people they feel sorry about." The Slytherin chuckled, making Alem feel somewhat offended for ignoring him just like that while Ron is just tightening his fists that his knuckles turned white.

"See, there's Potter, who's got no parents," Draco continued, "then there's the Weasleys, who've got no money - you should be on the team, Longbottom; you've got no brains." He let out a laugh along with the two cronies behind him, finding his insult to be quite funny.

Neville turned red in embarrassment but suddenly remembered what Harry and (Y/N) said to him, making him gulp nervously and turn around on his seat to face the laughing Malfoy.

"I-I'm worth t-twelve of you, Malfoy." He stammered but felt proud that he stood up for himself for once.

Neville was about to smile in confidence but it immediately dropped once Draco, Crabbe and Goyle let out a howl of loud laughter, clutching the sides of their stomachs.

Neville blushed once more and turned around to face the field, frowning and clutching his robe tightly as he felt like he was about to cry.

"Malfoy, I swear to Merlin, that's enough." Alem raised his voice which finally grabbed Draco's attention, his laughter trailing off as he looked at the younger Rosewood with an amused smirk on his lips.

"Ah, of course there's Alem Rosewood. How could I ever forget you?" Draco let out a light scoff, "maybe you should go and join the misfits too. Compared to your sister/brother, you're more likely to have the same brain capacity as Longbottom and Weasley so that is very fitting, don't you think?"

Alem's pupils dilated but they immediately softened as he narrowed his eyes and looked away from Draco, pursing his lips in anger.

He wasn't angry at Draco's insult; he isn't immature enough to actually let something like that get through his head.

He was more angry about the fact that he just compared (Y/N) and him, saying as if they're better and has more potential than him.

Alem didn't want to be compared to someone, especially with his sister/brother.

Draco scoffed once more when he sees the young Rosewood look away, facing Neville's back once more.

"And Longbottom, if brains were gold, you'd be poorer than Weasley, and that's saying something."

Ron's nostrils stretched, letting out a heavy sigh of anger through his nose while his face is already red.

He was already anxious enough about Harry and then the boy that he didn't want to deal with at the moment is pissing him off to the extent of urging him to just blast a random curse right on his head.

"I'm warning you, Malfoy... One more word-" Ron spoke and was about to face Draco but he felt Hermione's light slaps on his forearm, almost as if she's trying to tell him something.

"Ron!" The girl gasped, "Harry-"

"What? Where!?" The red haired boy immediately turned his head towards the field, scanning his eyes to see where his raven haired friend could be with his Nimbus 2000 broom.

"You're in luck, Weasley!" The Slytherin laughed, "Potter's obviously spotted some money on the ground!"

Ron gritted his teeth one last time as he snapped, like a twig that's been stepped on.

Before anyone could even see anything with a blink of an eye, Ron Weasley was already on top of Draco Malfoy and wrestling him down to the ground.

Draco was surprised but didn't back down, grabbing one of Ron's arms that's pinning him down and tried to flip the red haired Gryffindor over so he could also throw some punches towards him.

Alem took a step back in surprise but immediately took a step forward, trying to pull Ron off of Draco.

"Stop this already! Weasley, get off of him!" He grunted, pulling his Gryffindor robe in order to pull him back but Alem couldn't even bring Ron to budge away from Draco.

Ron elbowed Alem to push him away from behind him, making the (H/C) haired boy stumble back as he fell onto Crabbe and Goyle, bringing the two Slytherins along with him.

Neville hesitated for a moment in his seat but he clambered over, having the intentions to help Ron in any way he can.

"What in the name of Salazar Slytherin is going on here!?" (Y/N), who just arrived and is clearly tired from running from the Slytherin common room and to the Quidditch field, exclaimed in disbelief.

They glanced over at Alem's slightly mangled body that's been sandwiched between Crabbe and Goyle as the two cronies were trying to throw Neville a punch in the face.

They could tell that Alem is trying to get away from them but because of their fat asses, he couldn't just clamber over without getting pinned down by their bodies.

(Y/N) then flickered their eyes towards the wrestling Draco Malfoy and Ron Weasley, now understanding the situation and what led up to... this.

With narrowed (E/C) eyes, they stomped over towards Crabbe and Goyle. Neville, who saw (Y/N) walking over towards them, stopped for a moment before earning an unsuspected punch from Goyle, who laughed victoriously.

"What the fuck are you two doing? Get off of my brother!" (Y/N) kicked Goyle on top of Alem, sending the boy rolling over to the side with a groan.

They clicked their tongue and grabbed Alem's hand, pulling him up with a grunt.

Alem groaned for a moment, wincing slightly in pain before staring at (Y/N) with a slight frown.

"Are you alright? Did you break your arm or anything?" They scanned their brother for any injuries and breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that he didn't twist his legs or anything of the sort.

"...I'm fine." He mumbled and looked away from them. (Y/N) rose a curious eyebrow up, noticing their brother's odd behavior.

Nonetheless, they shook it off and glanced over at the still wrestling Malfoy and Weasley.

"Draco said something bad to Ron, didn't he?" They sighed, scratching the back of their head with a frown. Alem only hummed, responding to (Y/N)'s question but didn't look back at them.

"Rosewood, you little dung!" Goyle exclaimed and stomped his feet towards (Y/N) with his fists tightened.

Before he could even lift a finger towards the (H/C) haired girl/boy, he was immediately paralyzed and couldn't manage to move a single muscle in his body.

"Be quiet for a while." (Y/N) sighed with their wand pointed towards the surprised and paralyzed Goyle.

Without even bothering to look back at the paralyzed Slytherin behind them, they began to walk towards the still wrestling Ron and Draco.

They didn't seem to notice them arrive already and is now starting to walk towards them with their wand placed on their dominant hand.

"Ron, stop this. He's not worth it." They pursed their lips in worry, grabbing their redhead friend's shoulder in an attempt to try and pull him back.

However, Ron didn't pay any attention to the Slytherin and instead, kept on throwing punches to Draco laying underneath him.

(Y/N) clicked their tongue in frustration once they realized that Ron is not going to listen to them without force.

With a tight grip settled on the Gryffindor's shoulder, they harshly and forcefully pulled Ron off of Draco.

"I said, stop this goddamn it!" They exclaimed and gently pushed Ron a few steps away from Draco, in case he tries to go straight back on beating the Slytherin to a pulp.

Ron, who's still not back on his senses, gritted his teeth while his red bangs seemingly covered his darkened and angered eyes.

In a blink of an eye, he aggressively pushed (Y/N) away with his arm while raising his fist to hit them.

"Stay out of this!" He exclaimed angrily, bringing his tightened fist down towards the unsuspecting Slytherin.

Before anyone could even react, Ron's punch had hit (Y/N)'s right cheek, earning a painful groan as they stumbled back and clutched their cheek with a wince.

Alem, Draco and Neville gasped fearfully while watching (Y/N) panting softly as small droplets of blood started to drip from their nose.

Ron, who only realized what he's done, stared at (Y/N) with widened eyes as he cast his gaze down to his slightly bloody knuckles.

"(Y/N)!" Alem's face contorted into worry as he ran over towards (Y/N), clutching their shoulders and examining their bruised cheek and slightly bloodied nose with discomfort.

"I..." Ron started to speak but couldn't find the words in order to say something to (Y/N).

He knows that he should apologize but watching the older Rosewood's slightly darkened (E/C) eyes and unreadable expression made him stop.

Their repressed anger is something that you wouldn't want them to show to anyone else.

Draco, who watched the whole thing unfold after wiping some blood off of his nose with his fingers, fumed and his mind started to spiral down into the depths of darkness as he saw (Y/N) wincing in pain.

_They're hurt._

_**They're hurt.** _

He turned his head towards Ron, silver eyes narrowing as hard as ever with his knuckles beginning to turn withe and his breathing becoming rapid due to anger.

_And he's the reason why._

_That bloody weasel decided to hurt them._

**_He made them bleed._ **

The platinum blonde haired boy stood up, his knees wobbling slightly but didn't care if his body is aching due to Ron's damage on him.

His silver eyes glinted dangerously as it flickered down towards his Gryffindor scarf that's still hanging loosely on his neck.

**_Now, he must pay with his blood._ **

Draco ran towards Ron with his teeth gritted and with every intention to strangle Ron using the scarf.

He doesn't care if he's going to be expelled by doing this or if there are people watching.

No one hurts his little serpent and gets away with it so easily.

Just as Ron had noticed Draco running towards him, (Y/N) stepped in between the two of them with their (E/C) eyes darkened yet determined.

"If I said 'stop this', then both of you will fucking stop right away, got it?" They said slowly but calmly, almost as if their tone of voice is completely different from what they look like right now.

Draco stopped, hanging his arms to his sides while looking at (Y/N) shamefully as he is aware that he did start all of this.

Ron frowned slightly and let his guard down once (Y/N) is already between the two of them.

"Ron? Ron, where are you!? The game's over!" Hermione exclaimed a few steps away from them, hugging Parvati Patil, who's sitting on the row in front of her, while jumping up and down in excitement for a while before casting her brown eyes around to find Ron.

When she was able to see him, she walked up to Ron with a huge smile on her face.

"Harry's won; we've won! Gryffindor is in the lead!" She said as Ron gave her a small smile, not in the mood to share the same enthusiasm as Hermione has right now.

"...What's wrong with Malfoy?" She asked, bringing her eyes behind Ron where Draco stood with his slightly bruised face.

(Y/N) turned around to face Hermione as well, smiling and bringing their Slytherin scarf up on their nose.

"W-Wait, (Y/N)! Why is your cheek bruised!?" Hermione walked up to (Y/N) in worry, pulling their scarf down to examine it further.

She gasped once she saw blood still dripping slowly from their nose.

"You can still see it?" (Y/N) scoffed playfully and all Hermione could do is to only glare at them, slightly offended.

"Just because you pulled your scarf up doesn't mean I still can't see it. I'm not stupid, you know." She sighed, retracting her hand away.

"What happened? Why are you so beaten up?" Hermione asked, completely ignoring the fact that Draco is also beaten up.

The platinum blonde haired boy got slightly offended, thinking why his presence around a certain muggleborn isn't being acknowledged.

"It's... a long story." (Y/N) mumbled, glancing over towards Draco for a moment before walking up beside him with a soft smile etched on their lips.

"Since we're so beat up, we should go to the Infirmary and get ourselves patched up." They said which made Alem walk up to them, ready to oppose against the idea.

"Just the two of us." (Y/N) loudly emphasized once they saw Alem already stomping towards them.

He stopped on his tracks and gave his sister/brother a look, wondering what they're trying to do to Draco, who's slightly blushing yet scared of what (Y/N) might to do him while they're alone.

Hermione looked skeptical as she casts a glance towards Draco's anxious form. The appearance of the Malfoy having an anxious face is enough to make her know that, at least, he knows what (Y/N) is capable of doing when they're pissed.

At least, she thinks they are pissed.

"...alright, I'll inform Harry and make sure you get yourself patched up nicely." Hermione nods while beckoning for Ron to walk away from the Slytherins.

The red haired Gryffindor sent (Y/N) a look of shame and apology before walking away with Hermione, hands tucked inside his robe pockets.

"I'll see you on the common room, Alem." (Y/N) smiles reassuringly at their brother, who held the same skeptical look that Hermione had.

Alem sighed and nodded without saying a word, knowing that (Y/N) is, at least, capable of protecting themselves from the likes of Malfoy.

(Y/N)'s smile disappeared as they turned around to leave the stand, tugging Draco along with them.

Their facial expression made it unclear to know if they were angry or just didn't feel any different towards Draco as they know that he is the reason why all of this started anyway.

"(Y/N), I-" Malfoy began but he was immediately cut off by (Y/N).

"Save it until we get to the infirmary." They spoke with a slightly cold tone that immediately rendered Draco silent. He frowned slightly but narrowed his silver eyes as his mind wandered towards a certain Weasley.

Stupid Weasley, if only he wasn't so bloody sensitive, this wouldn't have happened.

Draco shift blamed as the two Slytherins walked towards the Infirmary in silence, hoping that this will be resolved as quickly as possible.

»»----- ♡ -----««

As I dove down to the field with my head up high in pride, I glanced over towards the Hufflepuff team to take a look at Cedric Diggory.

To my disappointment, he seems to be laughing along with his fellow teammates as if the defeat of the Hufflepuff team didn't even bother him at all.

I rolled my eyes at this. In the end, I'm still the better seeker.

What does (Y/N) even see in him anyway?

Speaking of (Y/N), I glanced over towards the stand where they would be in along with Hermione and Ron but I couldn't see them anywhere, not even a strand of their (H/C) hair.

Maybe they left with Hermione and Ron already, I thought to myself while congratulating Wood and my other teammates and heading over to the waiting room where I would change my Quidditch attire back to my normal casual ones before looking for (Y/N).

As soon as I finished putting on my plain grey shirt, I waved goodbye to my teammates before heading out of the room.

To my surprise, Hermione and Ron were already standing there, waiting for me.

And to my surprise, (Y/N) isn't with them.

"...Where's (Y/N)?" I asked and it was then I noticed Ron's slightly battered face. I can tell that he's gotten into a fight with someone though the reason why, I don't really know.

"What happened to your face?" I directed my question to Ron, cocking up eyebrow up curiously.

He didn't answer my question.

Instead, he looked away in slight shame with narrowed eyes.

"(Y/N)'s headed to the Infirmary with Malfoy." Hermione answered my question and that immediately made me open my eyes as wide as how my eyes are when I'm searching for the Snitch in the field.

"What?" I asked, trying to make Hermione clarify her words.

"The two of them looked beaten up though I'm not really sure why or how they ended up like that in the first place." Hermione casts Ron a side glare and my anxiety for the Slytherin immediately worsened as I walked past my two housemates and stomped my way to the Infirmary.

"Wait, Harry! Where are you going!?" Hermione chased after me with her footsteps following not too far behind me.

"To the Infirmary, obviously." I rolled my eyes. I don't even care if my body is sore from the match, if I can see how (Y/N) is doing then it's worth the pain.

They're always worth it.

»»----- ♡ -----««

"Oh, it's you again." Madam Pomfrey sighed when she casts her eyes on me. I chuckle slightly while rubbing the back of my neck sheepishly.

"When you say it like that, it makes it seem like I always get injured, Madam Pomfrey." I walked over towards an empty white bed and sat on it, feeling the soft texture of the sheets brush through my fingers as I bounced slightly when I sat down.

"Because you do." The mediwitch glared while carefully examining my slightly bloodied nose and my bruised right cheek.

Damn, Ron's punch hurt but honestly, I've dealt worse when that poor excuse of a father used to beat me up when I was a kid.

"And when you get yourself hurt, you always bring someone with you." She flicks her eyes on Draco, who's standing there awkwardly but bore a deadpan look for the mediwitch in front of him.

Judging from his look, he probably thinks that she's lowkey about to insult him.

"But I'm surprised that it's not your brother this time." She continued before rummaging through her shelf to find something to patch me up.

"I don't really need a potion, Madam Pomfrey. I just need a bandaid or something and I'll be on my way." I spoke up which made her turn around to look at me in confusion.

"...we don't have this 'bandaid' that you speak of." She said, making me internally scream of how non-muggle this school is.

But, what do you expect when you have magic?

"But we do have an ointment that can remove the bruise though it doesn't really help with making the pain go away." She continued and I simply nodded at her offer.

"We'll take it." I smiled as I watched Madam Pomfrey sigh before walking away to the backroom of the infirmary to get this magical ointment that she talks about. Now it's just Draco and I in this empty infirmary.

It's getting extremely awkward so I should get to the point already to not make things weirder than it already is.

I mean, dragging a boy along with you to the infirmary just to fix yourself up after being punched and emphasizing to your sibling that only the two of you should go is weird enough as it already is.

"So I'm assuming that you made Ron angry by saying a bunch of rude stuff to the point that he snapped and basically wrestled you." I was very specific but I already know how this scene in the book went.

It's just difficult to pretend that you don't and you have to act as if everything is new to you.

I'm a good actor but I'm not the best when it comes to making stories up.

"I wasn't-"

"I don't need you to lie to me, Draco. Ron's face says it all, really." I sighed, stopping him before he says any more bullshit to try and convince me that he's the victim in this situation.

"Look, I know that we had an agreement two days ago and I think that this is worse than just placing a curse on a random student who you think is inferior to you." I stood up from the bed and walked over towards Draco, who looked away from me.

He wasn't looking at me but I don't need him to.

"I don't know why I have to do what you say, Rosewood. I can do whatever I want." Draco mumbled and I cocked my eyebrow up in response to his words.

"Yeah sure, you're your own person. You're right; I don't have the rights to control you or anything of the sort but all those things I said is only to make you aware that behaviors like that will either get you suspended or worse, expelled from the school and I don't think you'd like that, would you?" I said.

"So if you want to act like a shitty person, go ahead. I'm not responsible for any of that but don't blame me if you find yourself having a difficult life after being caught by a professor, especially Professor McGonagall." I continued, which only made Draco's eyes narrow deeper as if he wasn't even budged by my words.

"I'm just-" He started but I immediately cut him off by taking another step forward.

"Let me ask you a question then; if I wasn't your friend, would you have treated me the way you treat Ron and the other students?" He was taken back from my question due to the sudden dilation of his pupils but they immediately softened as he opened his mouth to answer.

"No. You're nothing like the others." He answered almost too... straightforwardly?

"If I treated you any less than those scum underneath my feet, I would be extremely disappointed in myself." He continued with an empty smile but the way his eyes suddenly looked soulless as he says that made a chill run down my spine.

"I would be that kind of person if it meant that I'd get to be your," Draco paused for a moment before continuing, "friend for the rest of my life."

For once I was speechless of what came out of this Slytherin's mouth. It's more on the fact that he basically called Ron, Neville and the others who he thinks are below him 'scum' but even if his father is slightly like that, Draco would surely never talk this way to someone else.

With a gulp, I opened my mouth to ask, "What do you mean by that?"

"Well you see, (Y/N)-"

The doors burst open and we immediately turned around to see who could've opened the infirmary door with such impact that it almost shook the entire castle.

To my confusion, Harry stood there with narrowed green eyes with a confused Hermione and Ron tagging right behind him.

"Harry?" I asked while watching him walk over towards me and sending Draco some death glares along the way.

I could see my fellow Slytherin rolling his eyes in annoyance while crossing his arms at the sight of a certain Gryffindor giving him some death glares.

"I heard from Hermione that you were heading over to the infirmary so I thought something bad happened to you." He said as he frantically examined my face,

"Bloody hell, what happened to your cheek? And your nose is bleeding!" He was about to reach his hand up to my face until Draco swatted his hand away, clicking his tongue in the process.

"No one asked you to barge in and act like a worried lost puppy, Potter. Get lost." He growled and I immediately facepalmed as Harry gave his attention to Draco.

"Draco, this is exactly the reason why no one likes you." I mumbled but loud enough for him to hear.

Unfortunately, it seems like he's ignoring my words and instead kept his eyes on Harry.

"Did you do this to them?" Harry asked, his eyes glinting in anger every second.

"Malfoy, if you're the reason why they're hurt, you're going to get a lot more than just a few bruises on your face." The Gryffindor tightened his fists into a ball, ready to punch Draco whenever.

"Why are you asking me?" Draco scoffed and tilted his head over towards Ron. "You should be asking him; he knows more about (Y/N) being hurt than I do."

On cue, Harry turned his head towards Ron, who made it obvious that he's the reason why I'm hurt by shamefully casting his gaze somewhere else.

"Ron-"

"Okay, I think that's enough for today!" I stepped in between Harry and Draco, placing my hands on both of their shoulders so they wouldn't end up pouncing on one another after a few seconds or something.

"Look, we should all just be grateful that we're not dead and I didn't end up having a broken cheekbone. It already happened and there's no use dwelling on something that already happened, right?" I suck at trying to stop incoming fights but this is the least I can do so nobody will get injured again.

Madam Pomfrey's already having me, Draco and Ron. I don't want to burden her with more students to be injured, especially Harry.

Speaking of Madam Pomfrey, she coincidentally walked in on us with a medium circle sized container with an unknown flower design that's either printed or painted at the cap of the ointment.

It also had a purplish bluish color that resembled like a bruise which made me unsettled for some reason.

"...don't tell me that all five of you have bruises." Madam Pomfrey was about to panic until I spoke up with a nervous laugh.

"No! They're just here to see how I'm doing though I think Ron also needs some of that ointment." I tilt my head over towards the red haired Gryffindor. The mediwitch sighed and handed me the ointment before giving me a glare.

"Please make an effort to stay out of trouble more often, Miss/Mr Rosewood." She says before walking towards her desk to continue her work that I rudely interrupted as I came here with Draco.

"Noted, Madam Pomfrey." I tucked the ointment in my pocket before feeling my arm being pulled by a strong grip.

I look up to see Harry dragging me away from the infirmary with an unreadable expression.

"You're coming with us to the common room. We'll patch you up there." He nonchalantly says while the two Gryffindors are struggling to keep up with us due to Harry's fast paced walking.

"Hey, Potter!" I heard Draco call out from the distance but it doesn't seem like he's following us as I turned around to see him standing there with an angry frown on his face.

"B-But the Gryffindors-" I stammered as I realized that there are Gryffindors who wouldn't want a Slytherin in the common room.

"I don't care what they think. If they have any problems with you being there, they'll answer me." He spoke up, turning into a corner which made Draco's standing figure disappear completely.

I stayed quiet and sighed once more, ruffling my (H/C) hair while taking a peek at Harry's face.

He looks confident and angry at the same time. I couldn't really figure out which expression is more prominent on his face.

I don't have time to insist Harry that I can just patch myself up in the Slytherin common room since I don't want to anger him more so I just went along with what he's going to do.

These eleven year olds can be scary if they're angry since they can do magic after all and I don't want this kid to set off a random snake at me, just like what he did to Dudley at the zoo.

**»»----- ♡ -----««**   
**A/N:**

**I'm so sorry if I took too** **damn long to update! I was originally going to post this last week but I was so busy with how things are going downhill in my life and how to deal with boys who like you so please forgive me for being such a shitty author :'V**

**I mean, I even published this at 4 in the morning so my brain is so out of it and I'm so sleepy and accidentally pressed 'publish' even though I haven't even finished writing the A/N.**

**So right now, I'm just going, "what the fuck are you doing. Why are you like this."**

**Anyway, this chapter is supposed to be the part where y'all go to the forbidden forest but I don't wanna write another 30k words for a single chapter and I'm guessing that most of you will die for reading that much words in a single chapter and this is already 20k so I just published the first parts of the whole chapter instead lmao.**

**I dunno when I'll be updating but rest assured that it'll come a little bit sooner since it'll be shorter than this one, for sure.**

**Now with that out of the way, let's have a fanart break!**

**I've received fan arts in the last couple weeks and I feel like a shit person for not responding to one of them so to y'all who sent me fanart, I've received your beautiful drawing and I'm sorry for not responding any sooner but I love all of you guys :')**

**Here's the first one by** **[KuraTile](https://www.wattpad.com/user/KuraTile) ** **! He's the reader who drew the fanart at the a/n of chapter 11! I honestly didn't expect him to draw me another one but I'm really really happy that he did!**

**Please give him a follow and shower him with love as much as you can. He deserves it :'))**

**And yes, Cedric is a handsome man, indeed.**

**The next one is from** [ **ElSerendipias** ](https://www.wattpad.com/user/ElSerendipias) **! Bro, I love your comments and I'm so sorry for not responding to you any sooner. I haven't opened Wattpad in days and I hope you can forgive me but I really love you bro.**

**They included their own version of (Y/N) and Alem along with how they think Erised looks like! It looks really cool!**

**If you guys could give them a follow or a nice "hello, I like your drawing", I would really appreciate it bECAUSE THEY DESERVE IT GODDAMN IT.**

**Anyway here you go.**

**Also, don't worry, you captured Erised just right and I can't draw shoes either lmao.**

**So that's all I have to say! I'm sorry, once again if my update schedule is really messy and clunky. I wish I could make it up to you guys but I really can't make promises I can't keep since I don't want to disappoint y'all.**

**Have a nice morning! I need to go to sleep. It's like, 5** **am jfc**


	16. I - XV (1):「A Stroll in the Forbidden Forest」

❝ **Now now, we can't have you depend on people other than me, so I went and killed every last one of them!** ❞

**»»————- ♡ ————-««**

**"aAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"**

A certain Slytherin screamed in pain, flailing around desperately while trying to push Harry off of them but Hermione and Ron are holding their arms down so they wouldn't actually do that.

Many Gryffindors were either concerned, annoyed and just thinking, "typical Slytherins" when they heard (Y/N) scream from the bottom of their lungs that it could surely shake the whole castle in a matter of seconds.

They couldn't just kick them out of the common room either. 

Harry had to give them a glare and tell them that (Y/N) will stay in the common room for a while and if anyone has a problem, they're free to speak up but it comes with a punch from the raven haired boy.

"I don't want it anymore! StooOOAaAAAAP!" (Y/N) screamed loudly once more at the end of their sentence, tears forming in the corner of their eyes. 

Hermione frowned and turned to look at Harry, who's also frowning yet still placing the ointment on (Y/N)'s cheek.

"Harry, can't you be a little more gentle with them?" Hermione asked and put a little more force in trying to push one of (Y/N)'s arm down.

"You don't think I'm not trying to be careful with this?" Harry clicked his tongue while dipping two of his fingers in the ointment. 

"Bloody hell, why didn't Madam Pomfrey tell us that this would be very painful?"

»»————- ♡ ————-««

Madam Pomfrey frowned and set her quill down, staring at the unfinished note that she's going to give to Dumbledore later regarding of how many students visited the hospital wing this month.

So far, (Y/N)'s constant visit to the hospital wing is making the note longer than it actually is.

"...I really think that I forgot something." The mediwitch sighed, rummaging through her brain to think about what she must've forgotten.

"If you forgot, then it probably wasn't important." A Ravenclaw, who came to the hospital wing a few minutes ago, said after tipping the contents of a pain killing potion and cringing at the taste of it.

"...yes, you're right." Madam Pomfrey gave the Ravenclaw a small smile of gratitude before getting back to her work, ignoring the fact that she just forgot to tell (Y/N) Rosewood about the ointment's horrific side effects;

Yes, the ointment removes the purplish and bluish color of the bruise from the skin, making it seem like the person did not receive any bruises at all however, the pain from that bruise will remain and can still be felt by the person.

And the side effects from this is that at the application of the ointment, the person will receive a tenfold amount of how much their bruise hurts, based on where the area of application is.

You might be wondering why an experienced mediwitch, like Madam Pomfrey, forgot to tell this to (Y/N) despite it having an extremely painful and horrific side effect. Well, the only reason for this is that;

Madam Pomfrey is old and already has enough on her mind by tending to injured students everyday who hate the taste of the potions that are given to them.

And you can always expect old people, especially the ones who look like they're absolutely done with how many picky students are, to be forgetful.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

(Y/N) pouts angrily while tears are still streaming down their cheek due to how painful that whole ointment application ordeal was. 

They were sure to get back to Madam Pomfrey after this later because she didn't tell them that it would be damn painful.

"You're fine, (Y/N). It's done now, see?" Harry smiles gently and places the cursed ointment away from them in an attempt to comfort the pouting Slytherin in front of him. 

In his mind, he's just chuckling at how cute (Y/N) looks when they're pouting.

"I'm not fine! That ointment nearly killed me and I'm not even past 11 years old yet!" They exclaimed in exaggeration while pointing at the evil ointment in accusation.

"It must be the Bruise Exfoliation ointment. Based from the name, it peels off any bruised look on any part of your body but the pain that you receive is more painful that that bruise you're getting because the ointment is tearing inside your skin to cleanly peel that bruise look off." Hermione gave a long speech of what the ointment is but no one really seemed to care about her explanation as Harry and Ron only gave her a deadpan look.

"But I don't understand why Madam Pomfrey didn't tell you that." Hermione frowns and her words made (Y/N) react angrily.

"I know right!? I swear, I'm going to pay her back by slipping un-erasable ink on her notes for an entire month." (Y/N) narrowed their eyes but they immediately gave off an aura of mischief and disobedience as they pouted angrily.

"...(Y/N), don't you think that that's a going a bit too far?" Harry chuckled slightly since he couldn't resist it.

"No, I always used to slip in a thumbtack on the teacher's seat back then and I've never been caught once. This is no different." (Y/N) scoffed but then immediately sweat dropped since they lowkey just told them that they're from somewhere else. 

Well, if you're perceptive enough, you'd immediately find (Y/N)'s words odd.

Ron and Harry laughed at this though and it seems like they didn't even pay attention to the rest of (Y/N)'s words as they immediately laughed after (Y/N) said that they used to place a thumbtack in a teacher's chair.

"Thats not funny." Hermione frowned angrily, thinking about how (Y/N)'s must've been in a primary school before they went to Hogwarts. "That's not funny at all."

"You need to loosen up, Mione. It was a harmless prank from a young student." (Y/N) chuckles, giving Hermione a huge grin. The female blushed softly at how (Y/N) looked when they grin.

They did the same thing when they first met each other during flying lessons. (Y/N)'s smiles and grins always managed to bring Hermione to blush. 

There's just something captivating about the young Slytherin's smile that makes her attracted to it.

"Wait, you went to a muggle school?" Harry asked and took this a chance to get to know them more.

"Huh?" (Y/N) stuttered as they internally face palmed before answering Harry's question, "Y-Yeah, I sure did. Alem and I went to an elementary school."

"...elementary?" Hermione tilted her head to the side, confused as to why (Y/N) addressed a 'primary' school as 'elementary' even though she knows that both of them are, somewhat, the same anyway.

"Sorry, I meant primary." (Y/N) immediately corrected themselves while internally scolding themselves. 

They were so used to speak in an American accent but they have to remember that they're supposed to be British while they're here in Hogwarts.

"Your parents allowed you to go to a muggle school even though you know you're wizards?" Ron seemed skeptical of (Y/N) words but Ron knows that the Rosewood family seems to be just as fascinated as his father is when it comes to muggle traditions and their society.

"It's not that bad. I mean, the only thing that I hate about muggle schools is that they have a really bad education system." (Y/N) shrugs while leaning their back on the sofa that they were sitting on.

"and math." They added as they crossed their arms, reminiscing on the days where they had to procrastinate and stay awake for a whole night just to finish their math homework. 

Their grades were already dropping and not doing any sort of homework will only plummet their grades down to the ground so they had no choice but to comply.

Harry grumbled silently, casting his green eyes somewhere around the room as he remembered how Dudley and his friends used to bully him in his primary school. 

He was often teased for using broken glasses that used tape to repair some of it and for wearing his cousin's oversized shirts. 

The raven haired boy was thankful for being able to attend Hogwarts instead of Stonewall High, the school that he was supposed to attend until Hogwarts came. 

He didn't want to wear the so-called uniform that his aunt and his uncle dyed in grey and continue being bullied there.

The uniform smelled like elephant skin anyway.

"I don't really mind the system but I do mind the students there." Harry said, almost in a whisper that nobody heard him say anything. 

(Y/N) noticed his mouth moved but didn't ask him anything as he might be reminiscing something about his previous school.

Ron stayed silent until his eyes landed on (Y/N)'s cheek. It went back to its normal color, almost as if they hadn't gotten a bruise in the first place but he knows that it's still painful for the Slytherin so with a gulp, he spoke up.

"(Y/N), I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you or anything." Ron apologized, looking down in shame for hurting (Y/N) a second time this year. 

He couldn't seem to control himself when it comes to his emotions that he tends to bring other people down with him when it's at its worst.

(Y/N) could only smile and place a reassuring hand on the redhead's shoulder, giving him the most gentle look that they could muster.

Although, Harry and Hermione didn't seem to share the same gentle look that they have as they glared towards Ron.

"Don't apologize, Ron. I know that you didn't mean to do that so I forgive you." (Y/N) retracted their hand away, scratching their other cheek shyly. 

"Besides, it's mostly Draco's fault for provoking you anyway. I shouldn't have intervened when you were... you know." They chuckled, which also earned a small lighthearted chuckle from Ron as well. 

He was relieved that (Y/N) actually forgave him without earning a punch from them but he is also thankful that (Y/N) is forgiving.

A trait that's rarely found in Slytherins.

"I seriously can't believe that you haven't learned your lesson with (Y/N) yet, Ronald." Hermione sighed as she shook her head in disappointment. She turned to look at the Slytherin, giving them a look of apology for what Ron did and for not being able to intervene as well as she was only watching the Quidditch match.

"You need to be more of a... gentleman." Ron rolled his eyes at this as he leaned away from the female Gryffindor.

"You're the one to talk; you're not even that ladylike." He murmured between his breaths but Hermione definitely saw him move his mouth, muttering something about her. 

She could only narrow her eyes at this before turning to look at Harry.

"Don't you think so, Harry?" She asked but didn't receive any response from him. The female Gryffindor could only cock her eyebrow up in confusion as she stared at the raven haired boy, who was staring at Ron with contempt.

"Harry?" Hermione asked as she decided to snap Harry back to reality.

"Oh, sorry. I-I think so." Harry blinked in surprise and turned his head away from Ron, in case his stare would get creepier and creepier by any second.

"You've been spacing out a lot, mate. Got something on your mind?" Ron didn't seem to notice or mind Harry's stare. 

In fact, he was just as slightly worried as Hermione was after Harry had a suddenly odd change of behavior.

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it." Harry replied with a sigh and although the two didn't buy his answer, they took it nonetheless and didn't ask him any further.

"Well anyhow, I think I may have overstayed." (Y/N) piped in the conversation once again, standing from from their seat and stretching their arms a little bit before placing them on their hips.

"These Gryffindors have been sending me death glares for the past 10 minutes now." They sweat dropped as they looked around the Gryffindor common room and surely enough, there were Gryffindors who were, either looking at (Y/N) with confusion or with annoyance.

"Well, rules are rules after all." Hermione shrugged.

"If you're free later, come sit with us in the Great Hall this dinner." Ron smiled up to (Y/N), taking a step towards the Slytherin.

"Why? Did you guys find some information about the stone?" (Y/N) turned their head towards the Weasley with their eyebrow raised in curiosity.

"No, we're just celebrating Harry's victory from the match." Ron shook his head with a small chuckle escaping his lips. He straightened himself up before opening his mouth to speak again.

"And you make it seem like you can only sit with us when we find important information about the stone." Ron continued.

"Well judging from all the times I sat with you guys, I think it's a plausible assumption." (Y/N) retaliated with a playful smirk curling up on the corner of their lips.

"Understandable." Ron nodded, his smile widening once he realized that he's getting comfortable with the (H/C) haired Slytherin in front of him. 

He's never been the type to associate with anyone from that house but the vibes that (Y/N) gives off to everyone make them seem like they're not even from that house at all.

They're actually one of the nicest Slytherins Ron has ever met.

He felt shame crawling up in his spine when he realized that he's already hurt (Y/N) twice. He's not a perfect friend, far from it but he does want to try and be nicer to them as well.

"You should finish that Herbology essay of yours and study for the upcoming exams on your free time, (Y/N)." Hermione joined in on the conversation but her voice was stern and serious which instantly took (Y/N)'s attention.

"I'm almost done with my essay but I don't get why you're telling me to study for my upcoming exams." (Y/N) said, turning their head towards the brown haired female.

"I mean, it's like 2 and a half months away." They continued, searching around the common room to see if there are any calendars to prove their point.

"Are you joking?" Hermione had her mouth hung agape at (Y/N)'s words, completely in disbelief that (Y/N) doesn't seem to be as frantic as she is when it comes to the upcoming exams.

"That's, like, a second to Nicolas Flamel!" She continued before whipping her head towards Ron and Harry, her extremely bushy brown hair flipping and following her head turn.

"And how come the three of you aren't worried about all this?" Hermione asked, exasperation clearly visible on the tone of her voice.

"We're not six hundred years old, Hermione." Ron rolled his blue eyes, reminding his female friend that they're not Nicolas Flamel or even close to his age.

"And besides, we do have a lot of things that we should worry about for now." Harry said, bringing his mind somewhere else besides the exams.

"What are you even studying for? You already know it's an A." Ron continued while silently agreeing with what Harry said.

"What am I studying for? Are you crazy?" Hermione stared at Ron as if he was an unknown creature that she's never seen before. Ron felt somewhat offended with how Hermione was looking at him.

"You do realize that we need to pass these exams to get into the second year, right?" She asked, still finding it crazy that her three friends don't seem to know the consequences of not studying well for the exams,

And how they don't seem to give a damn about it.

"Yes but like (Y/N) said, its 2 and a half months away. We'll have plenty of time to study by then." Harry shrugged while stealing a glance at (Y/N), who seem to be smiling and remembering something in their mind.

"Don't you dare study at the night before the exams. You won't be able to pass with that small amount of time to study." Hermione sent Harry a hard glare and almost pointed a finger towards the raven haired boy in warning. 

Harry could only roll his green eyes under his large round glasses at how Hermione was acting.

"You know, you really sound like Alem when it comes to studying. I reckon he's studying for the exams right now." (Y/N) randomly brought up their brother, remembering how Alem would often remind them to study for quizzes and take their work seriously.

"Commendable." Hermione nodded her head in approval before her expression morphed back into dismay and disappointment.

"I should've started studying a month ago. I don't know what's gotten into me." She frowned while the other three was just staring at each other, wondering why this girl is such a fanatic when it comes to studying.

(Y/N) only held a look of, "well, it's Hermione after all." and the other two had no choice but to agree whole-heartedly and put up with Hermione and how she'll constantly nag the three to study for exams that are ages away soon enough.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

I left the Gryffindor common room a few minutes ago when I noticed that it was already getting late.

And that the Gryffindors seemed to be more than ready to kick me out for staying there for too long.

Alem must be very worried about me and I have to apologize to Draco for just leaving him in the hospital wing.

I figured that I'll just meet them in the Great Hall for dinner since I was 90% sure that they'd be there anyway.

When I felt a slight itch on my bruised cheek, I brought my finger up to carefully scratch the itchy area but a stinging pain made me pull my finger back with a hiss.

"Ah damn, it still hurts when I touch it."I sigh and brought my hand down as I continued walking on the hallway. 

I continued to pass through a bunch of students absentmindedly until my eyes caught a flash of black walking over to the Forbidden Forest in a hurried manner.

"Wait a second, who's that?" I muttered to myself and watched as the hooded figure entered the forest. 

I look around my surroundings for a moment, making sure that the students aren't paying attention to me and are just walking over towards their destination before I silently walked over to the entrance of the Forbidden Forest.

I was careful enough to not step on any twigs and dried leaves as I peeked out of the slightly large tree trunks to catch any sight of the black hooded figure and follow him. 

I saw a purple turban a few steps away from me and from that moment on, I immediately knew who it was as I took a few steps closer and making sure to hide myself well behind a tree trunk.

"... d-don't know why you wanted t-t-to meet here of all p-places, Severus..." Quirrell stuttering seemed to be worse this time. I take another peek to see Snape pressing Quirrell on a tree while keeping his grip on the DADA teacher's collar.

"Quirrell and Snape? What the hell are they doing here?" I muttered to myself, careful not to speak too loudly so they won't be able to hear me.

 _Wasn't Harry supposed to stalk them after the match or something?_ I thought to myself as I continued to listen to whatever they're going to talk about because this is certainly new.

"Oh, I thought we'd keep this private." I had to resist the urge to laugh at how slightly misleading Snape's words are and on the fact that they're literally in the Forbidden Forest alone.

Not that I'd complain if Snape and Quirrell did end up together.

"Students aren't supposed to know about the Philospher's Stone, after all." Snape continued and it was at that point where I managed to stop myself from resisting the urge to laugh since it just got serious.

I was about to lean closer until I felt a hand creep up on my shoulder. I had to open my mouth in surprise and almost gasp loudly as I turn around with my hand raised, ready to slap the hell out of this creature that decided to scare me.

I felt a small rush of relief when I saw Harry standing there but at the same time, I was annoyed because he just scared the hell out of me.

"Bloody hell, Harry! You scared me!" I whispered in a hushed tone while lightly slapping his forearm. 

Harry rubbed the back of his neck shyly and leaned closer to me so he could hide himself from the two as well.

"Sorry." He briefly apologized as I rolled my eyes and continued to listen to Snape and Quirrell.

"Have you found out how to get past that beast of Hagrid's yet?" Snape asked Quirrell with his usual icy cold tone.

"B-b-but Severus, I—" Quirrell stuttered again, a fearful expression on his face. I don't blame him for being so scared.

Snape's intimidating as hell.

"I'm sure you remember me saying that you don't want me as your enemy, Quirrell." He said, obviously talking about that time where he 'talked' to Quirrell during Christmas night.

"And I'm sure you know perfectly well what I meant by that." Snape continued.

In the tree where we were hiding in, a loud ass owl just hooted and making noises which made it unable for us to hear whatever they're talking about. 

I look up to the branch where the owl was sitting in, narrowing my eyes towards it.

"That's a loud owl." I muttered, annoyed before looking back to Snape and Quirrell.

"I can't hear what they're saying." I can hear Harry's breaths at the shell of my ear which slightly tickled me so I leaned a bit away from him while keeping my eyes at Snape talking to Quirrell.

Except I can't hear any of it.

"-- Your little bit of hocus-pocus. I'm waiting." Snape's voice eventually reached our ears after the owl finished making noises. The Potions master's grip on Quirrell's collar loosened.

"B-but I d-d-don't—" 

"Harry, let's go." I leaned away from the tree, looking at Harry with a stern expression.

"There's a chance that they might be able to find us from this position." I added as I grabbed Harry's wrist and tried to drag him away silently until he pulled away gently, letting me stop and twist my head towards the boy.

"But they're still talking." He frowned and let his hand fall onto his sides when he felt my hand loosen on his wrist.

"Snape might do something to Quirrell and we can't just stand by and watch." He added and frowned deeper while I just sighed and clasped both of my hands with his which earned a small tint of red spread around his pale cheeks.

I didn't bother to address this, however.

"Harry, remember that we're still students." I held a stern look towards the Gryffindor while stealing glances behind his back to make sure that the two professors are still talking.

"We're no match to professors, especially Professor Snape." He didn't seem to like my response but he nodded either way as the color around his cheeks faded.

"Let's just go and talk to Ron and Hermione about it." I said which earned another nod from the raven haired boy before we silently yet rapidly walked out of the Forbidden Forest before anyone could see us.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

The two of us walked to the Great Hall in silence since we really can't think of any words to explain what just happened.

Even I'm confused because the Snape and Quirrell encounter happened twice now.

The movies and books merging together doesn't sound a good idea but I have to deal with it.

"Where have you two been? Fred already ate most of the cake!" Ron grinned happily and waved his hand around as we walked towards the group with an uneasy expression visible on our faces.

I hadn't even realized that we reached the Gryffindor table already. How strange.

"Never mind that now, we need to talk." Harry wasted no time in getting to the point which earned a curious and suspicious look from Ron and Hermione.

Fred and the others who were in the vicinity cocked the eyebrows up in confusion as well but didn't bother to ask us about it as they must think that we have our own business to attend to and it's probably just a bunch of rubbish.

"In private." I added to make sure that Ron and Hermione get the gist that this is really important before leaning closer to the two.

"It's about the stone." I whisper in a soft hushed tone before leaning away from them.

The two exchanged and understanding yet skeptical look before nodding and stepping out of their seats, excusing themselves from the table with a small wave.

"What is it now?" Hermione was thw first to question everything while we were on our way out to the Great Hall.

"Just follow me. We can't talk about it here." Harry gave Hermione a look before turning around to watch where he was going.

Except, he was a bit too late with that head turn.

"And where do you think you're going?" Alem stood in front of us and blocked our way, narrowing his (E/C) colored eyes towards my way and is basically shooting me and aggressive glare.

"Good evening, Potter." He greeted but didn't bother to look at Harry when he did so, keeping his angry stare on me.

He's obviously pissed that I stood him up on the dorm and didn't inform him that I'd be back tonight.

"Alem, I have no time for this." I sigh desperately, silently wishing that Alem would understand and leave us alone for a while.

That hope was diminished when I heard a scoff and a bitter laugh come out of his lips.

"I waited for you in the common room the whole afternoon and when I saw that Malfoy was the only one who came back and told me that you were with Potter, I was so worried because you might've gotten worse." He raised his voice with every word that he said which earned a few looks from the other students.

I gulp in shame, rubbing the back of my neck and setting my gaze somewhere else while pursing my lips so I would be able to avoid any confirmation that there are people who are staring at us and Alem's outburst.

"And now that I come and see you in the Great Hall, ask you where you're going, you say that you "have no time"?" He scoffed once more but his lips became more of a frown as I could feel a small twinge of betrayal visible on his frown.

"Do you know how much of a punch in the gut that is, (Y/N)?" I sigh at this and didn't answer him for a second until I felt Harry take a step in front of me protectively.

"I'm sorry if I let (Y/N) stay in the Gryffindor common room for too long but don't blame them for not being able to tell you that they'll extend their stay." Harry defending me made me hold the sides of my head with my right hand and tightly grasping the hem of my Slytherin robe with my left.

I can't believe that a Gryffindor is defending a Slytherin right now. It's so embarrassing and just wrong.

And of course, judging from my brother's look, he doesn't seem to be happy about this gesture, nor is he happy with what Harry just said.

"We just really need them right now. If you could just-"

"You know what, Harry; why don't you, Ron and Hermione go on ahead? I'll stay here since I already know everything anyway." I couldn't take the fact that Harry has to be the one to defend me when I could just do it by myself.

I don't need anyone to defend me. I'm not some random person that needs to be saved all the time.

"W-What? But you're one of the witne-"

He stopped once I brought a finger up to my lips, signalling him to be quiet about this whole thing.

Harry frowned and sighed before nodding in defeat and walked away silently with Ron and Hermione behind him.

As the they walked away, Ron and Hermione twisted their heads towards my direction and gave me an apologetic look before turning their heads back forward to follow Harry.

"Alright, Alem. What do you want?" I sigh and bring my attention towards my brother as we began to walk to the Slytherin table.

"You really have a lot of nerve to even say that in an aggressive tone as if I'm the one who's at fault here." Alem rolled his eyes and sat down on his seat, laying his head on the palm of his hand while pouting angrily.

"Because you were embarrassing me in front of my friends! I'd be fine with it if we were both alone but students were literally staring at us while you had your little tantrum! Do you know how embarrassing that was?" I exclaim in a lighter tone to not make Alem any angrier as I don't want to experience the wrath of Alem's fury.

"If you weren't so stupid as wanting Malfoy to come with you to the hospital wing alone, then I wouldn't have done that. I was just really worried, especially after seeing you get punched and have blood drip out of your nose." Alem striked back, picking on his food with his fork with the same angry pout on his face.

"Hey, I can hear you, you know." Draco, who sat a few seats across, said in an annoyed tone.

We didn't pay attention to him though.

"I have my own reasons to do that! And that's not enough of a reason to embarrass me in the middle of the Great Hall with my friends beside me!" I fought back with my tone getting angier and angrier by the minute.

With that, Alem clicked his tongue and stood up from his seat aggressively that our plates shook on the table and caused a few students to whip their heads towards our direction.

"If you really want to hang out with them that much, then go. I don't care anymore." He huffs angrily before stomping out of the Great Hall with the tail of his black Slytherin robe flowing gently behind him.

I stare at his retreating form in disbelief before groaning in frustration and pinching the bridge of my nose.

"This is so frustrating. I didn't even say--" I let out another frustrated groan before standing up from my seat and stomp out of the Great Hall as well.

But not before grabbing the familiar Transfiguration book that sat on space of the table beside me.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

(Y/N) pouted as they kept walking towards the Slytherin common room, that's located in the castle's dungeons.

Their grip on Alem's borrowed Transfiguration book was tight but not enough to make the worn out pages crumple.

Once they arrived, a few Slytherin students stepped out of the large crack on the wall while talking to each other inaudibly.

The students glanced over at (Y/N) for a moment before they continued to walk away from the common room.

(Y/N) couldn't care less about what they were talking about as they immediately stepped inside the large crack before it would revert back to a small one, rendering entrance to the Slytherin common room to be closed.

The cracks closed just as (Y/N) had entered the common room with a relieved sigh.

The common room was gloomy and dark as ever, often making it seem like no life is present around the large room.

Although, the Slytherin students who are chatting by the fireplace and doing their own homeworks at the corner of the room made it seem like it's not as gloomy as you might think it is.

Outside the windows showed nothing but the dark murky waters of the Black Lake. 

You can see some mermaids swimming around the windows and knocking here and there but nothing to make a fuss about since the windows seem to be unbreakable.

Of course, they would be.

After walking past a few students on (Y/N)'s way towards their dorms, they finally reached their room that they shared with Draco, Goyle, Crabbe and their twin brother, Alem.

With a sigh, they knock three times before twisting the golden doorknob open and taking a peek inside the room from the slightly opened doorway.

Alem seemed to lay on his bed, waving his wand around and causing a few white and yellow sparks to fly around his bed.

(Y/N) rolled their eyes before fully entering themselves in the room and closing the door behind him.

"Hey, Alem-"

Their sentence ended abruptly once they felt a light pinch on their forearm.

Once they glanced down to see what had caused the pinching sensation, their eyes became half-lidded once they saw one of Alem's sparks pressing itself on their forearm.

"Hey," (Y/N) brought their eyes back up to Alem, who didn't seem to even spare them a glance. "Get this thing off me."

They pointed towards the spark but Alem didn't reply or even look at them.

(Y/N) sighed in annoyance before walking over towards the bed of their brother, not paying any attention to the spark pinching their forearm.

"Here," (Y/N) threw the book next to Alem's side once they were close enough to the bed. "You forgot your book."

"Nice to know that you still manage to care about me even though you're in the middle of a party with Potter and his friends." Alem scoffed and finally talked after a minute of silence though this response isn't really favorable to (Y/N).

"I didn't--!" They exclaim before taking a quick deep breath to calm themselves down.

"Look, I apologize if I made you worry, alright? It wasn't my intention to mislead or make you feel betrayed in a way and you'd know that!" (Y/N) rubbed the sides of their head to relieve some stress that Alem's giving them because of this drama that he's making.

"But I never, even once, asked you to be this worried about me! If anything, it's humiliating! I know that I always tend to get in trouble and I don't seem to care when I get injuries but I don't need to be tended and pampered all the time!" (Y/N) added and took a breath before continuing with a solemn frown.

"Don't you have a little faith in me when it comes to taking care of myself or maybe, just me overall?" After that, Alem stood up from his bed and stopped waving his wand around.

The angry and surprised look that he had on his face almost seemed to replicate the emotions that he has on the small little sparks, which immediately turned into a fiery red while a few turned cold blue.

"So you expect me to trust you when you don't even tell me anything about what you and Potter are planning to do with the sorcerer's stone and why you want to find it?" Alem asked bitterly and a shocked look has settled on (Y/N)'s face, in disbelief that Alem had somehow knew that (Y/N) and the trio were researching about the stone.

"Yeah, I've known since last week when you went to have a breakfast with Potter and his friends." He added when he saw that (Y/N) was about to open their mouth to say something, the angry pout on his face becoming more prominent as (Y/N) was immediately backed into a corner.

"Alem, I-I just didn't want you to get involved in something dangerous." (Y/N) tried to reason out but Alem didn't seem to be convinced as he scoffed and crossed his arms.

"Yet you seem to be more than willing to get involved in something dangerous as this, (Y/N). By that sense, you don't seem to trust me either." Alem said and turned around, making the flying sparks' colors to turn into a orange color.

(Y/N) huffed in frustration and placed their hands on their hips, glancing around the room for a moment before glancing back towards Alem, who seems to be grabbing a parchment and a quill from his bag.

"Okay look, if I tell you everything that's going on, do you promise not to tell anyone and stop acting like this?" (Y/N) asked but Alem didn't even bother to spare them a quick glance as he continued to unroll the parchment and spread it across his desk.

"Don't bother. You're making it seem like a little bargain is enough to make all of this better. Maybe if you actually told me and not kept any secrets from me, I wouldn't be this pissed." Alem unscrewed the cap of the inkwell and dipped the tip of his quill inside before writing a new set of words on his parchment.

"Merlin's beard, then what do you want!? I'm already willing to tell you the truth and everything!" (Y/N) groaned and exclaimed as they were fed up with Alem's attitude. He isn't making this situation any better by being spiteful.

"Maybe leave me alone? I could really use some focus for my Potions essay and you, being here, isn't really helpful." With a nonchalant tone, Alem spoke those words to (Y/N) as he continued to write without any time to spare.

The oldest Rosewood twin couldn't do anything but stare at Alem in disbelief before it faded back into an angry one, making them tighten their fists in anger and frustration of how immature Alem was being right now.

"Fine." They spat those words out of their mouth before stomping out of the room and slamming the door shut loudly. 

(Y/N) pressed their back on the closed door, letting off some steam by raking their hair up with their fingers and taking a deep breath to relieve themselves. 

They clicked their tongue and swore underneath their breath before walking out of the common room to try and find Harry.

Needless to say, Alem and (Y/N)'s relationship right now wouldn't be considered good.

Imagine how awkward those twins must be, considering that they're always supposed to be together.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

Easter holidays weren't really as nice as I expected it to be as we were being bombarded with a lot of school work and projects that we can barely catch up.

I made sure to finish my Potions essay, first and foremost since I know how strict Snape can be when it comes to punctuality.

Nonetheless, I think that the contents of my essay weren't the best. We were supposed to write about paralyzing potions and what we understood from them.

Right now, we're in the library, continuing our studying session while discreetly eating chocoballs since I have the tendency to eat while studying.

Hermione wasn't pleased about this, saying that eating in the library is forbidden while Ron was eating the chocoballs that I gave him a while ago, knowing that he's a sucker for sweets and candies.

I ended up placing the wrappers on the table since I didn't want to bother placing them in my pockets. 

Ron did though since Hermione kept persevering him to keep it in his pockets and just throw it out once he sees a trash can.

Hermione told me as well but I assured her that I would be picking them up once we leave the library. 

Well, as long as I don't forget that.

"Wait a minute," I spoke up as I flipped another page before raising my head towards Hermione, who stopped reciting the twelve uses of dragon blood abruptly.

"Remind me why we're here in the library, reviewing for our final exams even though it's, like, two weeks away?" I continued which earned a glare from the brown haired Gryffindor, who sat across me with a book settled on her lap.

"Two weeks?" Hermione asked as if my question was one of the most ridiculous things she's ever heard.

"Two weeks!?" She repeated but louder and more emphasizing. I was a bit taken back from this and silently wished that I hadn't questioned Hermione's ability about discerning time when it comes to exams.

"Well to be fair, we do have a lot of things that we need to do besides studying for the exams." Ron shrugged while randomly flipping a book about banshees and other creatures that would've been deemed as mythical back in my world.

"Don't you dare say that researching about the stone is more important than final exams." Hermione narrowed her brown eyes towards Ron, clutching her wand tightly 

"Well that's... actually part of it but no, I meant about all of the projects that we have to do before the year ends. It's just stupid." The redhead swear dropped while closing the book softly with a sigh as he placed his head on the palm of his hand.

"It is absurd but I don't think that it's unfair, considering that the year is ending." Hermione nodded with a shrug, waving her wand around to distract herself from something, it seems.

Not that I know what she's trying to distract herself from.

"Couldn't they just let the rest of our projects be our summer homework instead? At least, we don't have to do all of those in one sitting." I enter the conversation once more with a dreadful sigh escaping my lips. 

I lean back from my library chair but not too far that might get me to fall down to the floor.

It's true that I don't mind doing school work in this world, especially since it is Hogwarts, after all.

But even I need to take a rest and have a proper schedule of when and how I should do them. Being buried into a pile of work and being expected to do all of them before the year ends in two weeks is quite exhausting.

"That'll be easier for us but unfortunately for me, I don't think my aunt and my uncle would appreciate me doing homework related to magic." Harry frowned and gazed at the opened book in front of him with a mix of anger and sadness.

I frown as well since I know how shitty Harry's life is at the Dursley's household. 

Needless to say, I don't think they'll take it very well once they know that Harry needs to do something related to magic in order to get his homework done.

"Well, just tell them that you need to do it. I'm sure homework isn't that bad and who knows, maybe if you tell them a little bit about what you've learned, they might even be impressed!" Hermione suggested and I'm sure that she only wants to see a good outcome after Harry comes home but I can't help but think that her suggestion was somewhat naive.

"Just how bad are your aunt and your uncle anyway?" Ron asked, cocking his reddish eyebrow up in curiosity.

"Imagine if you keep getting every single bad flavor in Every Flavor Beans and couldn't get a good one. That's how bad they are." Harry sighs, crossing his arms on the table and nestled his head on his arms.

"Strange analogy but I get your point." I chuckle, which made Harry give me a small lighthearted smile.

"Muggles. They're so difficult to understand." Ron clicked his tongue while shaking his head disapprovingly.

It seems like Hermione didn't take his words too well, since her parents are muggles, as she gave Ron a brief glare before turning to Harry with her eyes softened back to their normal look.

"In any case, I think letting them show that magic isn't doing anyone harm would make them change their mind about what they think about it." Hermione suggested once more but this only made Harry sigh as he lifted his head from his arms.

"Yeah, that's the problem, Hermione; I don't think they'd like it if I show them any trace of magic and I doubt that they'll actually listen to me." The raven haired Gryffindor said. His tone makes it seem like he's sort of fed up from talking about his aunt and his uncle.

"Besides, I don't really care anymore." I heard Harry mumble and caught him staring at me with piercing green eyes from the corner of my (E/C) ones. 

I ignored his stare and took out my Gameboy when Hermione and Ron went back to what they were doing.

I was getting bored with studying and reading up things that I already know.

Once the 8-bit sound erupted from my gameboy's speaker, I immediately lowered the volume down since I didn't want anyone to be bothered by the loud sound from my gadget.

However, it seems that Hermione heard the sound and looked over to me.

"(Y/N), why are you playing games in the middle of a studying session?" Hermione frowned, quite displeased from my actions.

"Oh come on, I'm sure Madam Pince won't mind." I grin while taking a quick glance towards Madam Pince's desk. 

The librarian was shooting glares towards my way but said nothing as she went back to her work, scribbling something in her parchment.

I silently sigh in relief on this because I'm glad that we won't get kicked out.

Otherwise, I would have to deal with Hermione giving me an earful of how irresponsible I am and get me to only use the gameboy during free time like lunch or something.

"Madam Pince is not the point, I'm talking about-" She facepalmed and spoke until a hushed energetic voice cut her off.

"That's so awesome, (Y/N)! How did you even pass that level? It was too hard for me!" Ron whispered enthusiastically beside me, pushing his cheek towards mine so he would be able to watch me play clearly.

"Oh really? I don't even think it's that hard." I blink in confusion while jumping on a bunch of pixelated platforms and avoiding monsters that could take one of my lives away.

"Oh, for Merlin's sake." I heard Hermione mumble, shaking her head but did nothing since she already figured that there's nothing that she can do once I'm already playing.

I silently snicker at this since she knows that I can't be taken away from my games once I'm already playing.

It took me a while to realize that Ron was still beside me even though he isn't pressing his cheek tightly on mine anymore. 

He is still pressing his cheek on mine but nothing too hard that it makes both of us uncomfortable.

With Ron being so close to me, I could smell his hair and his breath as well. This made me switch half of my focus towards Ron's scent, breathing it in with a small smile curling up on my lips.

His hair sort of smells like green apple and mint mixed together. It made me feel refreshed for some reason and it reminds me of the shampoo that I always use back in my world; it always has a tinge of mint on it.

His breath smelled fresh and minty as well. Quite the opposite of Snape, who somewhat has the breath of a dungbomb, no offense to him.

I find it quite unbelievable that this is the same boy who insulted and punched me before. He seems so cheerful and energetic when it comes to certain things, like my gameboy.

I guess it's the Gryffindor inside him that makes him take things to a stand. Quite violently, if I do say so myself.

Of course, I forgave him for doing those things but I wouldn't forget about it. Not now, at least.

I want to see if he actually changed his ways when he apologized to me.

"Hagrid? What are you doing here in the library?" My attention was drifted from my gameboy, towards Harry and soon towards Hagrid, who came shuffling into our view with his moleskin overcoat, while obviously hiding something behind his back.

I paused my game, eager to listen to this conversation that's about to take place. 

Ron eventually leaned away from me and gave his attention to Hagrid as well.

"Jus' lookin'," Hagrid's voice sounded shifty and suspicious, which piqued all of our interests as we cocked our eyebrow up in suspicion.

"An' what're you lot up ter?" Eventually, his face replicated our skeptical looks while eyeing all of us with a slightly narrowed glare. "Yer not still lookin' fer Nicolas Flamel, are yeh?"

"You're actually a bit late on that part." I shrug and tucked my gameboy inside my robe pocket while swinging my short legs from the slightly tall chair that I sat on.

"What?" Hagrid frowned as his tensed shoulders loosened.

"Yeah, we found out who he is ages ago." Ron piped up from beside me, his voice confident. "And we know what the dog's guarding; it's a Sorcerer's St--"

Before Ron could even say any further, Hagrid already walked up to Ron and covered his mouth with his free hand. 

I tried to take a peek and see what Hagrid was hiding behind him but because of his large body, I could even barely see a glimpse of it.

Well, not like I don't know what he was hiding anyway.

"Shhhh!" He shushed loudly while looking around frantically to see if anyone was listening to their conversation. 

To his relief, no one was and I don't think anyone would be interested in what first years are talking about.

"Don' go shoutin' about it, what's the matter with yeh?" He frowned as he took his large hand away from Ron's mouth, or more specifically, almost all of his face. 

Ron coughed out for a bit, trying to take a big deep breath as he silently gave the half giant a glare.

I couldn't help but chuckle softly at this, which eventually led Ron to glare at me as well.

"There are a few things we wanted to ask you, as a matter of fact," Harry's stern tone almost caught me off guard, which made me turn to look at him. He was frowning angrily and his eyebrows were furrowed.

Anyone could easily say that he's pissed but I'm not really sure why.

And I don't think Hagrid has done anything wrong, really.

"About what's guarding the Stone apart from Fluffy--"

"SHHHH!" Hagrid immediately shushed Harry loudly, earning a few looks and murmurs from other students. 

I take a quick glance in the distance to see Madam Pince's eye twitching in anger and it seems like she's on the verge of kicking us out of the library.

I gulp before turning my attention back to them.

"Listen, come an' see me later." Hagrid leaned closer towards the three of us, whispering and making sure that only us can hear what he's saying. "I'm not promisin' I'll tell yeh anythin', mind yeh but don' go rabbitin' about it in here."

"Students aren' s'pposed ter know. They'll think I've told yeh-"

"Alright, we'll see you later then." Harry cut Hagrid off before he could even finish his sentence, which I thought was kind of rude. 

I gave the raven haired boy a quick glance of confusion before turning it back to Hagrid, who was also a bit shocked at Harry's actions but said nothing as he shuffled out of the library with his book now placed in front of him.

As soon as Hagrid was out of the library, I turned to Harry, who seems to be deep in his thoughts.

"Harry," He snapped out of his daze and turned to look at me with a startled look, "Are you alright?"

Harry blinked before smiling gently at me, as if nothing had happened and his slightly rude actions were just my imagination and my overreaction.

"I'm fine, (Y/N). No need to worry about me." Harry reassures. I didn't buy it though but whatever is going through his head is none of my business so I didn't ask him any further.

"What was he hiding behind his back?" Hermione placed her finger on her chin, thinking thoughtfully.

"Do you think it had anything to do with the stone?" Harry asked but no one seemed to answer him as they were all thinking as well. 

I said nothing as I tore my eyes away from the group since I didn't want to say anything.

"I'm going to see what section he was in," Ron stood up from his seat, looking more than eager to search for answers rather than working or reading something in our table.

Before even one of us could volunteer to help or say anything, Ron already walked away.

Silence came from the three of us and did nothing but wait until our redhead friend came back with answers. 

After a minute later, Ron came back with a pile of books on his arms.

He grunted softly as he placed them on the table, making Harry and Hermione blink in surprise because of how fast he was able to search for something like this.

"Dragons!" Ron whispered eagerly, quite happy that he was able to find something. "Hagrid was looking up stuff about dragons! Look at these; Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland; From Egg to Inferno; A Dragon Keeper's Guide." He began to list all of the books that Hagrid was sifting through.

"This makes me remember all of the neopets I used to have." I murmur while chuckling to myself and crossing my arms, watching them do the talking since I have the tendency to spill something out whenever I talk about things I already know.

"Hagrid's always wanted a dragon, he told me so the first time I ever met him." Harry leaned away from the pile of books, frowning slightly.

"But it's against our laws," Ron shook his head, somewhat fearing for what Hagrid is trying to do. "Dragon breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks' Convention of 1709, everyone knows that."

 _Actually, I don't know that._ I thought to myself but how would you be able to even know that if you don't even bother to read this small detail in the book since it's not even mentioned later?

"Its hard to stop muggles from noticing us if we're keeping dragons in the back garden." He sighs before leaning away as well and crossing his arms dismissively. "Anyway, you can't tame dragons, it's dangerous. You should see the burns Charlie's got off wild ones in Romania."

"But there aren't wild dragons in Britain, right?" Harry asked.

"Of course there are," Ron cocked an eyebrow towards Harry before bringing two fingers up in front of Harry's face. "Common Welsh Green and Hebridean Blacks. The Ministry of Magic has a job hushing them up, I can tell you." He soon put his hand away before crossing his arms once more.

"Our kind have to keep putting spells on muggles who've spotted them, to make them forget." Ron continued, taking a seat beside me since he must be quite tired from standing there for a few minutes now.

"Oh, you mean Obliviate?" I piped up while tilting my head to the side.

"I'm not sure of what spell it was but I think it's that." Ron answered my question but I wasn't satisfied, well, the only spell that makes other people forget is Obliviate so why did I even bother asking that question?

"So what is Hagrid even up to?" Hermione frowned while I just sigh and picked up a random book from the pile that Ron brought to our table.

"I mean, judging from all of this information, wouldn't it seem plausible that Hagrid is secretly keeping a dragon egg?" I shrug while opening the book to a random page that I could care less about.

"We don't know that yet but assuming that's true, what is he even going to do when it hatches?" I heard Hermione ask.

"He did come to the library to look things up about dragons. He might know how to handle it when it hatches." I said, pointing at the books.

"(Y/N), he lives in a wooden house." Hermione reminded in a deadpan tone, looking quite displeased with what I just said.

"Well assuming that's true, why don't we go and see it for ourselves?" Ron suggested, a grin stretching on his face.

"What, no! We're not doing that! We don't even know if we're allowed to go to Hagrid's in the first place!" Hermione exclaimed, looking at Ron as if he just said the most ridiculous thing a person could ever say in his life.

"Oh come on Hermione, how many times in our lives are we going to see a dragon hatching?" Ron pouts, "and we can go to Hagrid's, it's not like it's in the Forbidden Forest or anything."

"We'll still get in trouble for being a part of something like that. If anyone knows what Hagrid is even trying to do with all of these, I highly doubt that--"

"Shut up!" Harry whispered angrily, making us whip our heads towards the raven haired boy in a surprise, wondering what's gotten into him lately.

I noticed that he was looking behind me, his green eyes narrowed and eyebrows furrowed together like a dog who's growling at an untrustworthy stranger.

I blink in confusion before turning my head around to see what he's looking at and I could feel myself rolling my eyes at the convenience of having Draco Malfoy sit a few feet away from our table.

His face was unreadable but his posture was stiff, making it very obvious that he was listening to our conversation, though Merlin knows how long he's been sitting there.

"Well shit." I mumble, earning a slap on my forearm from Hermione,

"(Y/N)!" She gasped lightly, making me apologize to her briefly for suddenly swearing.

"Let's go before Malfoy hears anything else." We all nod in agreement as Ron stood up from his seat, us following after.

"We all go to Hagrid's hut tonight. That way, Malfoy won't follow us." Harry told us in a whisper, glancing behind me to see if Draco is still listening or looking at us.

"(Y/N), if he asks, you say that it's nothing and we're just making stories up for ourselves." Harry said but I couldn't help but snicker since it's not really a good way to cover up a story that Draco, obviously, knows.

"That's a really terrible cover-up, Harry." I chuckle but Harry could only roll his eyes though I did see a small smirk on the corner of his lips when he did so.

"Just do it, alright? We don't want Malfoy to rat us out." I nod nonetheless before we all walk out of the library, talking about stuff that isn't about Hagrid or the Sorcerer's Stone.

It made me realize that talking about normal school stuff makes it seem like we're in an alternate universe where we didn't have to deal with finding the Sorcerer's Stone or let those three create a malicious assumption about Snape.

Eh, but that's a boring alternative universe so I'd rather stick with this one,

And I'm rather proud of it, despite getting hurt most of the time. Erised really did create a miracle for me and I'm thankful for that.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

Draco pursed his lips while watching the four walk out of the library. He mostly placed all of his attention on the (H/C) haired male/female but it dispersed once they were out of his sight.

He sighs before glancing over at the table where the four sat a while ago. Before anyone could go up and take a seat for themselves, Draco shuffled towards the table and stared at (Y/N)'s seat before taking a seat himself. 

He made himself comfortable before smiling, knowing that this is the same seat that (Y/N) just sat on a few moments ago and now, he's the one sitting on it. 

His silver eyes caught a few wrappers on the table. He picked one up and flattened it in order to see what kind of candy they were eating. 

** Chocoballs **

"You're so irresponsible." Draco scoffed but tucked it inside his pocket either way, silently hoping that this is the wrapper that (Y/N) threw or else he would've been pissed. 

He doesn't really know that (Y/N) was the one who left those wrappers though as Ron kept them in his pocket, due to Hermione's order.

He took his mind away from the candy wrappers and addressed the events that just happened inside his mind.

What (Y/N)'s brother told Draco a while ago before he went searching for the oldest Rosewood twin was right,

Something is definitely wrong and (Y/N) is involved with something this dangerous.

Alem asking Draco for help made the platinum blonde haired boy smirk victoriously, especially after seeing how troubled and ashamed Alem looked as he fidgeted and cast his (E/C) eyes somewhere else.

_"Look, I don't usually ask people for favors and you're definitely the last person who I'd ask for help but I'll swallow my pride for this, as long as you can look out for (Y/N)." Alem frowned shamefully as Draco just crossed his arms in curiosity, thinking why him, out of all people, is asking Draco for help._

_However, seeing that it is about (Y/N) and that the two aren't in good terms, I can see why Alem isn't taking this matter into his own hands._

_"You've mentioned something about (Y/N) but what makes you think that they will be in trouble?" Draco asked, watching the twin pull the sleeve of his green knitted sweater that his mother had probably made for him._

_"(Y/N)'s been spending a lot of time with Potter and his friends. Usually, I wouldn't care if my sister/brother is hanging out with their friends but this is a different situation, considering that Potter is up to something." Alem explained which earned a groan and a facepalm from the Malfoy heir, frowning as he should've expected Harry Potter to be involved in this._

_You'll never get a peaceful school year when you're The Boy Who Lived friend._

_"Oh, of course it's Potter." Draco clicked his tongue, thinking of many ways to seriously hurt the Gryffindor once he sees him for getting (Y/N) involved in something dangerous, as Alem said._

_"And? What are those Gryffindors up to and why are they even letting (Y/N) help them?" The platinum blonde haired boy asked._

_Alem was about to open his mouth to answer his enemy's question but immediately closed his mouth when he remembered that the Sorcerer's Stone is something that is kept from the students._

_It just so happened that Harry, Ron, Hermione and his own twin managed to find out about it._

_He's spiteful that (Y/N) kept secrets from him but he is not, in anyway, an idiot to be revealing that sensitive information to someone else._

_Especially if it's serious enough to not let any of the students know._

_"...I don't know." is all what Alem could answer in the end._

_Draco didn't seem pleased or even bought his reply but took it anyway since Potter and his two bloody Gryffindor bodyguards are most likely doing something that no one else knows._

_Alem is no exception._

_Maybe they're even bribing (Y/N) to help them or something._

_"Fine." Draco turned around, rubbing the back of his neck while racking his brain to think of where (Y/N) must've went with Potter._

_He winced at the thought since he doesn't feel anything but pure anger when he realizes that his little serpent is with that wretched Gryffindor._

_"Wait," Alem blinked his eyes in surprise, "you'll do it?"_

_"Just to make things clear, I'm doing this for (Y/N), not for you." Draco shot the twin a hard glare with his silver eyes narrowed._

_He could care less of what happens to Alem but there's no way in hell he would let something bad happen to (Y/N)._

_However, Alem paid no heed to Draco's poor attempt of trying to intimidate him and instead, pulled up a look of confusion._

_"...why do you even like (Y/N) so much?" Alem's question made Draco exclaim in surprise as a heavy blush began to spread across his pale cheeks._

_"W-Wha...! I-I don't fancy that stupid sister/brother of yours, alright!?" Draco blurted out defensively with a stutter, taking a step back from Alem as he crossed his arms._

_The pit that Draco's ever growing obsession for (Y/N) growled, crawling out of its abyss to mess with the young child's mind._

_**Stop lying to yourself, you fool;** _

_**You love them, do you not?** _

_"I'm only doing this for them because they're my f-friend!" He added while feeling his chest tighten, almost as if his own words is clutching his heart tightly and making his body hiss in pain._

_Alem only gave the denying Malfoy a deadpanned look before raising his finger, ready to state something to the boy._

_"I'll have you know that (Y/N) likes someone." Alem said flatly before his mind almost went to slap his subconsciousness as he remembered something._

Oh, there's Zeke as well but what did I expect? They've lost their memories, after all. _Alem thought while watching Draco's expression and attitude change within a flash._

_This made Draco stiff on the spot, his silver eyes widened as his chest tightened even more. But this time, it's not because of his own denial;_

_It was because of the seething anger that his own obsession is having. It's also devouring him whole and almost making his face red._

_"And I think that they have a better chance of developing a better relationship with (Y/N) than you, knowing what you and your family had done to us last year." Alem continued which made Draco angry even more._

_A Malfoy never likes it when someone is stating that they can never get what they want._

_When in fact, they can._

Draco then realized that he's been staring at the candy wrapper that he unknowingly pulled out of his pocket, smiling at it as a small blush tinted his cheeks once more.

"Well, there's always room for change, isn't there?" Draco mumbled before placing it back inside his pocket as he stood up and remembered how close Harry was to (Y/N) just a while ago before they left.

This made him grit his teeth until he remembered that Alem asked him to look out for (Y/N) and get them out of danger when something happens. 

This is something that Draco could surely do.

Apart from thinking that this would lead the young boy to be overprotective of the older twin.

"Don't worry, (Y/N); I'll protect you, I'll always protect you." 

"Even if you like Diggory now, there's no guarantee that it'll stay the same next year or even in the future. I'll make sure that no one will take you away from me." Draco smirks while clutching the Slytherin robe that he stole from (Y/N) a few months ago.

_"And I'll make sure it stays that way."_

**»»————- ♡ ————-««**

**A/N:**

**Hello guys! I'm so sorry for the delay of chapters and I'm so sorry if I made you guys wait for almost a whole month!**

**This chapter will be merged as soon as the second part comes out. I didn't really expect it to be this long, to be honest and I knew I couldn't keep you guys waiting so yes, here we go.**

**The merged chapters will most likely end up being 20k words or more but who knows, maybe it won't since I might get straight to the point and not add any more details or something.**

**Jk, I'm not that kind of person. I value detail more than trying to rush chapters that make no sense.**

**The first year is almost ending! Like, holy shit. I didn't even think I'd make it!**

**I was pretty sure I'd end up dropping this book but seeing you guys loving it and asking me of what happens next, I couldn't help but continue. It does motivate me a lot!**

**Probably by two chapters or more if I end up making a long ass chapter that has 20-30k words lmao I'm not sure.**

**Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this slightly filler** **chapter nonetheless and please stay safe!**

**I'm not exactly safe in my own home since the virus ended up on a small city where I live. An infected person is around the area as well.**

**I do hope that you guys are doing better than me. I will try to update once per week during the time of quarantine to help you guys kill time.**

**Once again, thank you for reasibn and please stay safe!**


	17. I - XV (2):「A Stroll in the Forbidden Forest」

**❝Will you still love me, even after what I did just to make sure that you'll love me and no one else?❞**

**»»————- ♡ ————-««**

I stretched my arms and giving off a sigh of relief before glancing around the courtyard, that has a few students from different houses chatting or just reading or just spacing out, probably thinking about their inevitable existence in this world.

It took me a moment to realize that nighttime was fast approaching as the sun began to set in the distance.

The sky began to turn orange with a purple hue tinting the edges, complimenting the beauty of the dusk.

The moon wasn't too far behind and a few stars could already be seen.

When I realized that I shouldn't stay outside for now, I hopped off of the tree branch where I sat with my feet landing the green grass as I did so.

"Maybe I should head back," I mumble before turning my heels around to go to the Great Hall.

I'm hungry as heck so I have no time to just kill time in the common room and wait until after curfew hours come.

However, as I turned around, I saw Professor Snape with his usual deadpan face, walking through the hallway. 

He seemed more pissed than ever and if Harry and the others were with me, they'd immediately assume that the turban-wearing fuck was holding his stupid bravado act around Professor Snape.

I contemplate my decisions before skipping over towards the unsuspecting teacher.

This might be a bad idea but eh, this will probably be all worth it.

And I do need his help with something in the near future.

"Good evening, sir!" I chirp happily as adult edge lord turned around with a slightly surprised expression on his face.

He immediately softened before giving me a sneer, almost telepathically telling me to go away.

"Oh, miss/mister Rosewood." He acknowledged my existence before scrunching his face away from me. "I'm afraid I have no time to entertain someone like you." My smile faltered and eventually turned into a frown.

Wow, rood.

"You should really smile more often, sir! You look better when you do!" Skipping happily beside the head of the Slytherin house, I could hear a faint annoyed grumble escape his lips but didn't open his mouth to speak to me.

"Say," I finally get to point as I stopped skipping and began to walk normally, "May I ask for your help, sir?" I ask and I could see his sunken eyes flick over to me for a brief moment before he returned his attention back to the path.

"Go away." He said, slowly and almost like a warning.

Of course, like the stupid nut I am, I didn't take his warning and kept pestering him. I mean, that's what I'm good at anyway.

"You see, a thought occurred in my mind as I wrote the essay about the paralyzing potion; potions are usually drank straight from their containers but you can mix them with something else, can't you?" I ask curiously, paying no heed at the potion master gritting his teeth in anger.

"And may I ask why you're asking such things, miss/mister Rosewood?" He asked through his teeth.

"I'm just asking because I'm curious. I mean, you can slip a love potion in a food right? Would it be the same when it comes to other potions and would it greatly decrease the supposed effects of it when it mixes with other potions?" I shrug while making weird hand gestures while rambling on to an adult, who looks like he's more than happy to feed me to Fluffy if it mean that I won't bother him ever again in his life.

"If I answer your ridiculous question, would you leave me alone for the rest of the year?" He asked and I just gave him a look, wondering why the hell would he want me to stay away from him so bad.

"That's quite harsh, sir. I mean, do you really expect me to just not ask you if I'm having troubles or do not understand anything in your class?" I saw one of his eye twitch in annoyance at this but he still didn't dare to look at me.

"You, being a brainless dimwit in my class, is not my concern. It is your fault for spacing out or not taking any notes in my class, miss/mister Rosewood." He said, which caught me by surprise and made me feel nervous as he does see me space out in class sometimes and then later, asking Alem for help.

"E-Eh, you noticed all of that?" I sweat drop while rubbing my arm nervously.

"I may be old but I'm not stupid, miss/mister Rosewood." He answered monotonously.

We were both silent for a moment since I didn't know how to respond to him.

It's not everyday your head and your teacher tells you that they notice your behaviors in their class.

It's embarrassing to say the least and I'm not even a part of this goddamn world.

"...sir, do you really not have any mercy for an 11 year old child?" I frown a bit but I swear I could've sworn a ghost of a smile gracing his chapped, dry lips.

It's Snape, why do I even assume that he smiles?

"Well, are you even an 11 year old child?" He asked a weird question, and all I could do was look at him with an eyebrow raised and my frown replaced with my mouth slightly open.

"Excuse me?"

...

...

...

"Yes, you may mix most potions in edible things, as long as the potion does not contain any major harmful effects for the drinker." He suddenly answered my question, which really surprised me but I didn't complain.

I need this information anyway.

"For example, a love potion can only make the person fall in love with the caster, that is why you can insert it inside food, but if you slip in a Draught of the Living Dead in an edible food, expect it to melt before a second even passes by." Snape explained and I could only nod while listening to the potions master intently to keep the information inside my brain.

"The effects will be less potent, but I assure you that it'll do just the same." He continued, earning him another nod from me.

"And if it mixes with other potions?" I ask.

"Do you want to explode out of this castle, miss/mister Rosewood?" Snape clicked his tongue and began to squint his eyes in pure annoyance.

"Ah, okay okay, I get it." A chuckle escaped my lips for a brief moment, feeling a bit sad that I can't mix two potions together as I do need it for something else in the future.

"One last question, sir." I say, making him grumble loudly and let out an annoyed huff from his large nose.

"What happens if I were to slip in a paralyzing potion in an apple?" I ask, making him turn towards me with a dark curious glare.

"Nothing happens to the apple though it is impossible to inject a potion inside an apple, unless the apple is made out of paralyzing properties or coated with the potion but it's a long process and less effective." Snape explained, his curious glare growing deeper the more he explained how it works.

However, I paid no attention to this and instead, quirked an eyebrow up.

"Don't you guys have syringes?" I ask.

"A what?" Snape questioned and I shook my head at this as I began to think of how the hell am I going to make a syringe.

"N-Nevermind..." I mumble while I began to retreat back in my thoughts.

Coating the apple makes it less effective and I definitely need it to be if I want this plan to work.

But, apparently, syringes don't exist in the wizarding world and what did I expect? These people can just throw you a bottle of healing potions and you're good to go.

There's no need for surgery or anything like that, which is good and easy but honestly, they didn't think of how useful it can be to combine the muggle ways and the wizard ways.

"Are we done here, miss/mister Rosewood?" Snape's annoyed and fed up voice rang through my ears and snapped me back to reality, making me smile brightly up to the potions master with a thumbs up.

"Yep! Thanks, sir! I'll be sure to remember everything you said!" I said as I turn around, not forgetting to wave Professor Snape goodbye as I run over towards the Great Hall since I forgot that I was getting hungry and I am almost dying from starvation.

Though, that wasn't enough to make me forget the surprised yet nostalgic look that Snape held as I turned around and bid him goodbye.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

As the dark haired man watched the young (H/C) haired student run off, he closed his slightly parted lips and letting his surprised expression submerge immediately, like it never happened before.

_"Thank you so much, Severus! I'll be sure to remember everything you said!" Lily Evans grinned happily as her red hair flowed gently behind her, almost dancing along with the wind that just passed them by._

Just like (Y/N) running down the hallway, Severus could see Lily running off as well and suddenly remember of how he helped Lily during their first year at Hogwarts. 

He could still remember the piled up books and a few potion tricks that Severus told Lily, which led her to be as skilled as he is when it comes to potions.

The Rosewood twin's smile and their persistence reminded him of his younger days with Lily. They were just as enthusiastic and cheerful as Lily was when she came to him for help, making Severus see a little bit of Lily's personality in them.

Sometimes, it makes Severus wonder if the Sorting Hat had really done its job, sorting (Y/N) Rosewood in Slytherin. 

They have yet to show their Slytherin trait to everyone and all they've been doing is acting awfully nice and friendly, even to Gryffindors.

Eventually, this made him smile softly but his expression turned bitter when he suddenly remembered that Lily is gone. 

_She is never coming back nor is she ever going to talk to him ever again._

The fact that they left on bad terms still left a bitter taste on Severus' mouth.

Severus turned around as he continued to walk back to his destination, while thinking of the odd Slytherin girl/boy and what they were going to do with the information that they just gathered.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

Night fell.

I went to eat in the Great Hall alone, since Alem and I aren't in really good terms right now and I didn't want to sleep with the golden trio as I wanted to be alone for tonight to think things through with my plan.

Draco kept shooting me curious glares which set me under pressure and I tried too hard to make myself look less suspicious and Harry kept giving me signals to come and sit with them, though I just ignored him since I didn't want to talk to anyone and we're going to go to Hagrid's Hut tonight anyway.

Right now, I'm just letting my lunascope float since I was bored and I have nothing else to do until this midnight. I already finished the game that I was playing in my gameboy and replaying it isn't really that fun anymore so I need to find new games once it's summer. 

I've only got two school works left to work on but I figured that it could be postponed until tomorrow or this Saturday.

I was already in my pajamas, assuming that I'm all set up to go to sleep. Looking around the room, I ignore Crabbe and Goyle's argument of who should have the bigger chocolate in the box while Alem is just reading the book that I got him this Christmas.

I frown at this but still feel a bit happy that he's reading something that I gave him. 

Maybe I can fix things up with him soon, just not now.

Salazar, I miss talking to Alem and how much of a mother he is. Maybe if I wasn't too strict about not letting Alem know about the things I'm involved in, maybe he could even help me.

Or maybe just crafting a syringe.

The door to the bathroom opened, revealing Draco in his green pajamas and a towel draped over his shoulder.

"Hey, keep it down, you lot." Draco told the two bickering boys and they immediately apologized and kept it down, but not before Crabbe immediately placed the bigger chocolate inside his mouth.

Goyle grumbled at this but didn't say anything since Draco was in the room now. 

I tore my eyes away from the scene and sighed, plopping myself to the bed with a large sigh and gently dropping the lunascope in my nightstand.

What the hell do I do now?

"(Y/N)." I heard my name being called, making me sit up and look over to Draco, who was walking over towards my bed with an unreadable expression.

I feel panic bubbling up inside my stomach but I know that I have to act natural if I want to sell the fact that there's nothing dangerous that's involving dragons and Volde-fucking-mort.

"What were you and Potter talking about in the library and why does it involve dragons?" I almost backflipped myself out of my bed when he was being loud enough for Alem to actually hear all of this stuff. 

Luckily, the two dinguses were still fighting over food and chocolate in the far end of the room.

"Well... uh." I rub the back of my neck nervously while trying to maintain eye contact to the platinum blonde haired boy. "I don't know if this is the right time to say this since I wanted it to be a secret..." I began to cringe at where I'm going with this fake story since Alem is listening right behind me.

"But, we were researching about dragons history so we can write up a story about them and we figured that, since the school's motto is 'never tickle a sleeping dragon', we should center it around that..." At the end of my story, I was already glancing away from Draco so I couldn't see his expression or what he thinks about my obvious lies.

"You know, I think that story is going to turn out to be bad since your story-making skills are just as bad as you attempting to lie to your so-called friend." I heard Alem scoff while flipping a page in his book. I flinch at this and visibly felt annoyed that he just said that.

Merlin, how much I want to take that book and slap it on his head.

I chew the insides of my cheek before looking up to Draco, who surprisingly looked happy as a smile curled up on the corner of his lips. 

With half-lidded silver eyes, he leaned closer towards my ear and making me inhale on his fresh green apple scented shampoo.

"Don't worry, (Y/N). I'll always take be on your side, even if you lied to me." I feel guilt crawling up on my spine as he leaned away from me, giving me another gentle smile before walking over to his bed, which is right beside mine.

He turned his back on me before going to bed, lifting his hands up behind his neck and removing the necklace, that is the other half of mine, and placing it on his nightstand gently.

He laid himself on the bed and covering his body with his blankets, rendering himself done for the day. 

I frown and laid myself down as well, covering my eyes with my arm to think about the guilt, shame and all the negative emotions just flowing through my veins.

I do this all the time to everyone back in the real world; lying and putting up a facade that everyone liked about me. 

I felt no guilt or remorse whenever I looked down to anyone who I thought was beneath me, to anyone who I think doesn't understand me, to anyone who are shallow and annoying.

But here, it's strange;

I feel guilty for even letting anyone feel the tiniest bit of pain, I don't loathe anyone or think that they're shallow and I genuinely feel like they could understand me, even just a little bit. 

In return, I don't give them the happy facade that I always put up and instead, I genuinely smile, joke and feel for them.

Is it because they're fictional characters whom I've grown attached to for months?

Is it because I'm finally in their world and since I know and understand them better, I can finally be myself around them?

I open my eyes lightly while removing my arm away from my sight, gently smiling as I twist by body to the side, facing Draco's sleeping figure and feeling the necklace that he gave me in my neck.

"What a weird world." I managed to mumble out but in a good way, I love this place and everyone in it.

I wish I didn't have to leave, I thought while thinking about Erised and how I'm going to survive the first year alive.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

I walked out of the common room and through the painting while my head was hung low and my eyes were observing the stone floors of the castle, along with the fairly visible cracks between each tile.

I've been overthinking, ever since dinner.

The only thing in my mind is;

I... didn't understand why (Y/N) didn't want to sit with me.

Maybe I did something wrong but knowing (Y/N), they would've told me, wouldn't they?

Maybe it's because of Malfoy, he did keep staring at them intensely this dinner and I didn't like it, not one bit. I can definitely tell that he fancies them but there's no way they'll like someone as foul as Malfoy.

But still, panic and anxiety began to rumble in my head and I began to think of every worst case scenarios I could possibly think right now.

 **T͈̪͉ͥ̍̈́̊ͪh͙̻̫̰̲̺̞ͫ͑ͪe͔̖͈͋̕y̆̾҉̬͕̪͕'̹r̹̱̜̺͇̦͗̋̽͋ͤ͡ȩ̼̟̼̜͈̰͐́ͧ͊̉̒ ̲̩̿n̗̆̂̐͗̽̄o̲̣̼̬̜ͅt̞̲̤̟̂̀̾ͯ̊͛͒ ̗̝̙̮̠̏t͎͍̭̬̿͒ͧh̛̝̦͖̱͙̒ͤ̂͂ͅa̡͈̯̬̓ͫͣ̇̚̚t͍̖͍̠̦͙̅̾̃̋̿ͫ̌͞ ̸̱͔͆t̶͉̮͚̱̗̜̪͐y̛̱̞̅̔͒p͍̩̪̙̯̠͒e̘̥͚̰̺͊̂͌̈́̓ ̖͌͂o̫̲̻͉̬̳ͤ̈́̅ͣ̏f͎̓ ͔̞̫̠̥͕͇̇͡pͭ͐ͯ̏̂ͣ̇͜ȇ̙ͯ̆ͫ̈r͔͙̭͉sͯ̇͂̿͛͗҉̻̝͎ō͚͇̱͕̰̣ͯ̇ͬn͙̥̭͓ͧ͢,̻̱̜̲̔ͣ̽͢ ͬ̑̇r̹̺̙͚̣̯̖̉ͫ̍̐̓ͣ̉iͦ̊̽̓̚͏̤̦͙̬ͅg͚̦̦̦͇͈͗̏̄̍h̷͖ͫͮ̈t̨̠̳̥ͧ̂**?̼͇̤͈̆ͩ́

**Ţ͓̲̙͂̅h̸̘̯̘̳̟̮̾̿e̝͇̩ͩy̬̲̟͈͉̖̰̌̊̄̃ ̦̭͜w̤̤̽ͨͣͧͩ̔̚ō͔͑̅ͥ̊̎͡u͉̗̰̣̠ͤͣ͋ͣͯ̔ľ͍̜͇͔͒ͣͨ͗̈́ͬd̪̣͎͖̹͚̓͗̔̋̀̓ṇ'̠̪̯̈́t̒͒̎̒̌͒ ̹̼͉̩̞̂l̎́̎̒̈ͦ̅ẻ͔͚͈̘̖̥a͈̪͍̤̼̔͊ͫͩ͜v̪̘̹̝ͩͫ̄ͣ̉e̷ ̝͌̕ḿ̙̺͓̰̦̹ͬͭͪ̌́͛́ē̢̮̰͎̤ͥ ̵͎͓̳̳͈͆̆̾̿͂͗̉al̘̞̩̠̻̱͚͜ỏ̬͔̲̯͙̝̫̉͞n̦̻̂͑͑̔ͫẽ̴̜͉̉͐̂**

**̳͓̈́ͦ̽ͧ͆͘͡͡w̟̃̆͂ͯ̾̒͆i̶͎̜̋͂̍͑ͦ̏͜l͇ͯ̌ͦͬ͒́͘l̏̑҉̙͇͇̲͇ ̛̭̞͖̬͚̣ͤ͌ͨ̑̎͝a̜̋̾ĺ̪̖͔̮̰͙̩̽̔͗͑ͤw̹ͪ̔ͫ̎̇ͨ͒ͭͅa̧͔̤̜̪͐̊͂ͭ̓͌ẙ̢̥̞̫͇͈̟̮̱̜̇ͭ̇̀ṡ̌́̚҉͕̦͇̤̙̰̣̲̥ ̗͈̾̄̐ͦ̓ͪ̎ͧ̽b̶̭͍̱̫͇̱̈ͧͥͦ͜e̪̰̹ͮͪͨ̔͐̚ͅ ̷͕̦͔̻̦͊̃͊̄́͝r͔̜̥̰͔̲͔̉ͯ̆͂̓͒̀̋i̶̢̳̫̣̠͈͇̠̓͊ͧ̅̽̆g̹ͯͭ͗͌̑͘͠ẖ̦̲ͫ̓̈́͑t̶̞̪̦̦͍̘̺͆̀ͤ̆̌ ̭͕̤̻̫̖͙̳ͫ̈́̾ͭͫ̈ͣ̐̾́̀t̛̮̑ͮͫ͐ͥ̔͗̀ḧ̛͇̫̗̍ͪͯ͐̋͞͞é̠̩̞̦̤̘̟̩̋̚r͖̼͎ͤ̽̾ͤ̂͌ͪ̾e̢̢͙͖̱͇̮̊́ͩ̓ ̬̤ͭ̈ͬ̍ͯ́͝f̡̛̜̺͇̘̖̗ͬ̏ͭͪ̃̍ͅǫ͓̹̠͕̲͆̉́̽ͣ͌ͧ͘r͔͈̗͇̟̄́̓̑̒ͩ͜ ̢̛͚͍͎̠͎͆̓̓̀m͉̗̺̖͕̽̎̈̒ͣ̃̚ͅe̢̜͙̪̮͚͔̘̜͐͘͝ ̵̹́̌͊͆̚w̵͇͕̮̜̜̘̜̠̑͛̆͂ͯh̝̬̫̖̫̖̪̺͗̓͒̇͆e̷̹͉̺͓̳̥̫̬ͯ͆͛ͮͦ̊̅n̑͗͐͗̅҉͎̬ ̴̡̹͉̾̔͞Ïͥ͗͊͞҉̪̭̫ ̎͒ͩ̈́ͤ͂͘҉̭̱̜̙̪̬̱n̵͇͔̮̮ͮͨ̏͝͠e͍̰̞ͪ̎ͩͣ̅̀͟e̵̮̠͊ͥ̏̀̇̎̀̕ḓ͉͕͓̹͎̻ͧ̂͛ͩ͗ͯ̂ ̶̼̻̭͙͔ͦͤͭͮ̉͗ͭ̚tͪ̿̑̓͏̭̭̼͍͈̼̲́h̢̛̪͇̖̄͐̿̎̎e̓͋̆҉̴̸̪͕̤̯͉̖̙m̼̪͓̺͚̻̤̑̊̎ͪ͟͜**

**Ţ͎͋̏̓͡h̰͔͎̖̙̫͚ͪ̈ͣ̆ͭ͛̓͆̄̕͞ͅë̴̢̟͚̙̭̺̖̲̠͍̄͊ͤͭͨỳ̵̧̳̩̗̮̳̥ͪ͌ͩͫ̕ ̶̥̖̪̰̜̩̫͈ͦͦͤ͆̍͟ľ̸͇̼̫͕͓̻̑̒͜o̤̝̔͑͗̆̐̕͝ͅv̴̹̭͙̽ͫ̔̾ͯ͞e̵̺̖͕͎̊ͣ ̟̟͇͙̮͇̫̮̼̒̈́̇̀͟mͬ̾ͪ͌̀͏̷̞͚̟̮̫͍e̷̝̭̻͍ͣͥͩ̍͠,̹͖̙͙̟͌ͦͬͯ̎̃ ̶̼̤͇͂̈́́ͣͩ͐ͥj̢̯̘̜̄̉ͩ̚ư̷̞̤̤̅ͭ̈́ͬͦ̔ś̬̩͙̳̠̻̼͕t͖͙̮̥ͬ̌͌ͬ̐́͟ ̻̺̩͔͚̈́̐̀ͭͣ̈̚͟a̱̖͖̬̪ͪ̄̈́̕͢s̴̭̫͍͇̝̈̎ͯ̀ ̎̆̂̀҉͖͓̯̗̟̬̮ͅh̡̤̻̰͉̳̻ͤ͂ͪ̀͝öͣͮ̀͗͒̍͟͝͏͎̞͇̪ͅw̓̎́̿̄҉̞͈̪͕̞̙̯̕ ̧̨̛̩̹̹̜͍̤̆ͩm̶̲̏ͣ̔̈́ͤ̊̾ͭͬ͘ų̯̯͙̹̜̠̦͔̄ͫ̀͟c̶͕̘̼̥͉ͨ̓̑h̴̩̒́̄̋́̾̐̓͐͜ ͍̺͔͇͓̙̫͑ͫ͑ͪ́ͅḬ̯̭̣̥͇̲́͌͟ ̛̤͍͈̞̟̱͖͕̽ͭ͛ͬ̃l̶̳̥͊͗͐ͥ̃ͥͤ̀ͯ́̕o̩͇̩̩̞͎̰ͩͤ̅̈́̏ͧͨ̍ͨv̴͇̗̟̹̭̹̘̦̒̏̏͂͡e̯̭̱ͮ̀̀ ̝̳͈̯̼̪̠̖͐t͇͍̎ͤͥͪ͟h̖̭̙̠͓ͧͪͦ͐́͢ëͩ͌̓ͮͧ̒ͭ́͏̱̜̖̜͈͇̭̞m̪͍̬̝̅̄̽̽̓͑̂͝**

**B͓̳͍͎̼̤̙̙̋͒ͫ̄ͮͮ̔̑ͥ̐ͮͧͥ̍̈́́̕͝e͒͋͗͗̉̍ͮ̂͟͞͠҉̷͕͇̦̝̟̰̩̺͇͓̩͖͎͈̣͚̦c͇̱͇͕̗̻̪̤͈̟̬͎͊̊͂͑̕͟ȧ̇͌̑̄͊͊͌ͮ̕҉̴̺̦̮̗͔͍͙͇̩̗͉̣͖̥ủ̸̘̠͔̻̲͉̗̮̻͖͙̞ͬ͛̀̀̕͡s̸̶̷̫̲͍͈͎̮̹̙̲̟̱̰̉͐̏͒ͥͥ͛͋̾̌͒ͪͪ͡͠ͅe̷̛̟̲̘͕̱͎͙̤̗̪͇̖̥͖̱͊ͫͪͨ͋͊̓͊̊͑͛͆͡͞͝ ͚̠̺̺̜ͬ̀͌̀̽ͪͦͥͦ̆̓̈ͥ̎̎ͮ̀͠Ḭ̡͎͍͓͔̐̉̔̈́̊̒̃ͣ̉̓͊ͭ̂ͥ̀͘͟ ̨͕̜̼̤̻̼͖̺̗̙͚̜̮̱̰͇ͦ͆͋͆̓̽͗͞͠sͯ̅̾͗ͩͧ͑͒͊̇ͤ̏̅͐̈҉̧̡̦͎̥̥͖̜̯͚̞͚͕w̲̼̝̝̪̉̏̎͂̽̿ͯ̂̂͞ȇ̪̠̩̹̤͓͉̻͔͎̟̞̫̮̯̖̜͙ͬ͊̋́̒̿̐͞͝a̴̅͊̀͊͊ͧͣ̅̆ͨ͗̇ͤ͐̅͐̚͏̰͙̳̳̠͚̻͕͖̺̺̼̲̀r̒̄̄͆̇ͯ̿͒ͧ̊̏̿͡͏̸̷͙͙͚̗̦,̴̧̤̲̳͓͍̣̲̮͙̮̲̫̣̟̹ͭ̔ͥ́̚͝ ̃̿̑ͤ̉͐̉͏̷̴̞̣͉̞̰̣͙̣̺̹̀î͓͙̰̠̪͎͇̫̫͉͔͔͈̪̥̮̗͑̓ͭͧ͌͒ͬͮ̄̎̚͞ͅͅf̛ͥ͂ͥ̿̃̈̊̒͌̏͒ͫ̿͏̞̪͍͕̠̖̫͖̩͉͝͠ͅͅ ̸̨͇͍͈ͮ̂̐̽̑̉͗̈͒̇̆ͤ̑ͅt̷͍͓͚̲̭͚̀̌̓͒̀͟͞͞ḣ̸̶̖̱̤̱̪͓̰̩̯͉̯̣̲͚͉̗ͣ̎́ͬ̃̆̿̎̎̾̀͞ë̷̡̮̠͇̩̝̫̞̲̜͕̤̻̞́͂͊̂͐̐ͣͦ̆̑̊̕y̷̸̲͖̠͙͓͚͇̠̺̫͕̮̖̪̦͒ͣ̒ͤͬ̀͘͡ ̸̵̧͔̩̭̩̩͓̝̗̪͕̤̦͚̯͌̈́̇̾ͩ͑ͫ̄̐̾̎̑͜ͅͅd̸ͪͣ̑̇̄ͯ͗̆͒ͫͧ̓́͌́͏͔͖̜͇̲͕̘͎͠ͅo̸̻͕̰͎̼̞̱̣͍̬̻͍̥͓̼̬̍̓ͨ̿ͯ̃͐͛͐̀̑̿̽̃̏ͬ́̚ṇ̶̴̨̱͔̜͎͚̟̦̭̫͓͉̠̟̭̱̺̥͊ͭ͋̆̄ͮ́͘ͅ'̟̞̦͔̮͍̫̘̆̑̌́̉͂̉ͭ̔ͭ̏͑̿̂͝t̡̻̝̘͓̱̱͚ͭͪ̇̾** ,̵̸͍̗̳̰͚̤͇̼͚͈̯̦̥ͪ͊ͮ͐̓

**I'll have to make a few a̪̘̪̩̯ͤ͢d͈͙̼̘̘̜̬͕ͮ͑̋͟ͅj̜̲ͤ̇̒͊͆ͯ̏ͯu̳̤͌̒̿̾ͧs̷̛̩̥̣̲͚̅̓ͤ̑ͬ̍t̥̖̳̰̮̟̣̗̦ͭͥ̽̋ͥ͟m̨͇͓̭͎̘͎͔̻̬̒̅̀ę͕͓̘͚͕̪͕͇̔̈͆ͨ̊̆̐̕ṉ̡͉͎̠̪͔͊̆ͭ̄͠ṫ̨̫͚̱̙̺̈́ͫ̂ͬͦ͋̍ͅs̸̪͆͒̕͝for that.**

"Harry!" I heard Hermione whisper yell at me, making me turn to look at her in surprise.

"Huh? Wha-" I was suddenly held back from the collar of my shirt, which made me look forward to see that I was about to let myself get exposed in the middle of the hallway, though the possibility of being seen by a professor or a prefect is lower than my grades in History.

"Are you crazy!? You were about to let yourself get exposed out there!" She pulled me back to the shadows gently while I just rolled my eyes and leaned over to the wall.

"Relax, Hermione. No one is around these halls at this hour." I heard Ron say beside me while Hermione just sighed in annoyance while fumbling through her pockets to reach for her wand.

"This is why we should've brought the invisibility cloak with us." Hermione told as her face became more frantic by the second as she squeezed herself behind Ron to make herself look hidden.

"There's four of us, do you really think we'll fit?" I sigh, sending my brown haired friend a small glare.

"I mean, we're small so I think we would. Then again, I don't think we should take any chances." Ron shrugged while gently pushing Hermione away from him for a few inches since she was getting too close.

Hermione visibly rolled her eyes before scooting away from the red haired boy.

"Where is (Y/N)? We told them to get here as fast as they can once the midnight bell rings." She grumbled while peeking through the wall and searching around for (Y/N)'s whereabouts.

This made me remember that time during Christmas, when it was just me and (Y/N) together. Now, that was a much better time. 

They're easily surprised so maybe I should just call out to them when they get here, instead of poking them and startling the life out of them.

I don't want to, accidentally, give them a heart attack.

"Oh!" I heard Hermione gasp and widen her brown eyes, indicating that she saw something. 

Ron shuffled beside me, fearing that it might be someone on patrol but seeing how Hermione didn't immediately hide herself or usher us to hide, means that it must be (Y/N).

Before any of them could call out to the (H/C) haired Slytherin, I opened my mouth to call them out to us.

"Psst, (Y/N)." My voice was enough to turn (Y/N) around with a small trace of fear and surprise visible in their glistening (E/C) eyes, but they eventually softened as they walked over to where we are.

I stick my head out of the shadows, smiling at (Y/N), who is currently in their pajamas. They look absolutely adorable in their pajamas, it's as if they're a little child. Their small bedhair makes it even better.

I could feel warmth spreading through my cheeks and I could tell that I'm blushing so I turned away from (Y/N) and letting them talk to Hermione and Ron for now. 

I'm still a bit afraid of the reason why they kept ignoring me this dinner.

"You're a bit late." Hermione huffed, crossing her arms while puffing her chest out. (Y/N) scratched the back of her head in embarrassment while casting their eyes to the side to avoid Hermione's glare.

"Sorry, I had to create a diversion so I wouldn't be followed." They said while bringing their eyes up to me, giving me a small apologetic smile that made me blush softly. 

I figured that they did that since they're aware about ignoring me this evening.

"And are you sure that you're not followed?" Ron intervened which led (Y/N) to remove their attention on me but I didn't mind. As long as they somewhat apologized, everything is fine.

"Yep! I am a hundred percent sure!" (Y/N) gave us a thumbs up while my two Gryffindor friends just looked at each other skeptically, unsure of the Slytherin's ability to conceal themselves when they're being followed.

I don't care either way. I trust (Y/N) and if they say that we're not being followed then we're not.

And I would follow them to the ends of the earth.

My green eyes trailed over to their neck, narrowing at the sight of the necklace that Malfoy gave them. 

_They're still wearing it to this day? Is the necklace that important?_

I frown, watching them begin to walk along with Ron and Hermione sneakily. I took this chance to walk beside them, hopefully to get closer and talk about things while the other two just mind their own business.

"So, (Y/N)," I cough out softly. "You're still wearing the necklace, huh?"

"Hm? Oh yeah." They bring their hand inside their shirt, pulling the necklace out and showing the bright green jewel to me. 

Though, I wasn't impressed with how nice it is because Malfoy gave it to them.

"I guess I forgot to remove it but eh, it doesn't really matter."

**_It does to me._ **

(Y/N) tucked it back inside their pajama shirt and patting it safe. I frown again, seeing how they seem to treasure that necklace.

"You know, I actually sense a bit of magic in that necklace." I told (Y/N), bringing up the first time where I sensed something in the necklace during Christmas holidays. 

I wasn't lying but I definitely just want them to get rid of it because I don't want them to keep something that another boy gave them.

"Really? I don't sense anything, to be honest." (Y/N) quirked their eyebrow up, finding my words to be a bit... odd, judging from the look on their face.

"Well, I do." A smile made its way to my face when I saw how their facial expression softened, almost as if they're beginning to believe me. "And you said that Malfoy gave it to you, right?"

"...yes?" Their response came out as a question.

"So you probably shouldn't trust it. You never know that it might be from something dangerous." I said and for a while, I could see them giving it a bit of a thought while bringing their finger up to their chin until they brought their eyes up to mine.

"And you never know that it might be a protective charm." (Y/N) gave me a gentle smile, throwing me off guard with their response. "Draco is my friend, I doubt that he would give me something dangerous. Besides, he's never had an actual friend before and this is just a friendship necklace so I think it's alright."

They shrug before turning away from me. I was still surprised from their response to my warnings until I silently pout angrily, drifting my green eyes away from them when they also looked away from me with the same smile etched on their face.

Draco and (Y/N) seem to be close, if that's the case.

And that thought infuriates me so much that I want to g̶o̶u̶g̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶o̶s̶e̶ ̶f̶o̶u̶l̶ ̶s̶i̶l̶v̶e̶r̶ ̶e̶y̶e̶s̶ ̶o̶u̶t̶.̶

I take a deep breath in order to calm myself down before looking back at the (H/C) haired Slytherin beside me.

"I understand, (Y/N) but you should still be a bit more careful." I tell them, returning the smile at they gave me a while ago. 

They did nothing but nod absentmindedly and from the looks of it, it seems like they're back in their own world.

I might have to be more... **straightforward** if I want (Y/N) to stay away from Malfoy.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

(Y/N), Harry, Hermione and Ron stood in front of Hagrid's hut. The warm orange lights were on inside, indicating that someone must still be awake and up at this time of the night.

The Slytherin pinched their nose briefly to block out any foul smell that they could definitely smell in front of Hagrid's hut. 

They didn't want to be rude so they just breathe in small sets of air at a time.

Harry stepped up, bringing his knuckles up to the front door before knocking three times gently. 

After a few seconds later, the door creaked open to reveal the large burly body of Hagrid, the half giant friend of the three Gryffindors and the Slytherin.

"Didn' expect you all ter come." Hagrid sighed at the sight of the four before letting them in, glancing around the dark surroundings of his home before going back inside and closing the door.

In an instant, a large black dog slobbered its way towards the four. 

Hermione was the first to back away and hide behind her two male friends, however it seems that even Harry and Ron are wary and somewhat afraid of the dog.

(Y/N), however, simply smiled at the canine and crouched down in order to meet the dog's line of sight. 

"Hey there, bud." They grin, watching the black dog pant happily and letting its slobber fall on the wooden floor in front of (Y/N).

The trio watched (Y/N) interacting the dog in a calm and enthusiastic manner amazedly. Almost as if they've known the dog for a very long time or they're just really attached to animals in general.

"Lil' runt seem ter takin' a likin' to yer, (Y/N)." Hagrid commented happily as (Y/N) circled their hand in the air, making the black dog run around in circles while following the Slytherin's hand.

"I'm glad that he does." (Y/N) chuckled, rubbing the dog's stomach as it laid on the floor comfortably.

"What's the runt's name?" They asked, looking up at Hagrid, although they already know what his name is.

"The name's Fang." Hagrid replied while walking over to the stone furnace and picking up a hot kettle at a small ledge situated near the squared hole of the furnace. 

The half giant then walked over to the counter and retrieved four cups, setting them down on the wooden table near the four students in his hut.

"Aw, Fang... You're such a good boy!" (Y/N) began to rub Fang's stomach in a fast pace before standing up and dusting off any black fur they might've gotten on their pajamas.

"You seem to have a good relationship with dogs, (Y/N)." Hermione said while giving Fang, who is now circling around the Slytherin's feet happily, a wary look since she isn't the type to like dogs that look intimidating.

She's already got Fluffy to deal with that.

"Well, I've always wanted one and they're really cute so..." The Slytherin grinned down at Fang, silently cooing at the black dog before returning their attention back to the trio.

"I seriously wonder what part about that dog is cute." Ron murmured while turning away from (Y/N) and walking over towards a sofa with a lot of patched up clothes in order to fix every spots that were ruined, possibly by Fang.

After a while of settling down in Hagrid's hut in sofas (and Fang sleeping right beside (Y/N) and growled at Harry for wanting to sit next to them), everyone went down to business.

But not before Hagrid had offered them stoat sandwiches and tea, which they politely refused.

"So, yeh wanted to ask me somethin'?" Hagrid sat down on a chair, looking at the four with a small smile.

"Yes," Harry was the first to reply to Hagrid, figuring it was time to stop beating around the bush. "We were wondering if you could tell us about what's guarding the stone, apart from Fluffy."

When (Y/N) heard this, they turned their head towards Harry with a confused look.

"Wait, I thought we were going to ask about dragons." (Y/N) said, which Harry took in account with a curt nod.

"Yes, and that too." The raven haired Gryffindor told, earning a frown from the half giant sitting in front of him.

"...I-I don' know 'bout any dragons but I can't tell yeh about the stone." Hagrid told Harry, fumbling slightly in his seat when he mentioned the dragons. "Number one, I don' know meself. Number two, yeh know too much already so I wouldn' tell yeh if I could. That stone's been here fer a good reason. It was almost stolen outta Gringotts - I s'ppose yeh've worked that out an' all?"

Hagrid sighed defeatedly while letting himself sink lower in his seat. "Beats me how yeh even know 'bout Fluffy."

"Oh come on, Hagrid." Hermione began with a small pout, "You might not want to tell us, but you do know, you know everything that goes around here."

Hagrid's beard twitched for a moment, indicating that he was smiling. 

(Y/N), who had caught the gist, smirked before continuing what Hermione is planning to do as they intertwined their fingers together while giving Hagrid a soft, pleading look.

"Yes, and we only wondered who had done the guarding, really." (Y/N) said in a warm, flattering voice. "We wondered who Dumbledore had trusted enough to help him, apart from you."

(Y/N) chuckles teasingly at the half giant while Harry and Ron beamed at the two for their way of talking this situation out into a good one. Harry, specifically, found (Y/N) so adorable with their glistening (E/C) eyes.

Although, in (Y/N)'s case, they seem to be cringing more than ever for even doing something like that.

"Well, I don' s'pose it could hurt ter tell yeh that..." Hagrid said while (Y/N) just winked at Harry and Ron. The two boys caught the gist and winked back before giving their attention towards Hagrid.

Fang began to rest his head on (Y/N)'s lap while whining for a brief moment. The Slytherin smiled softly, bringing their hand up to Fang's head and gently patting him while listening to the half giant intently.

"Let's see, he borrowed Fluffy from me... then some o' the teachers did enchantments... Professor Sprout, Professor Flitwick, Professor McGonagall..." Hagrid trailed off while ticking the professors that he knows are responsible for guarding the stone in his fingers. "Professor Quirrell an' Dumbledore himself did somethin', o' course. Hang on, I've forgotten someone..."

Hagrid was in deep thought and placed his large finger on his chin before his eyes lit up in realization and finally ticked off the last professor on his list. "Oh yeah, Professor Snape."

"Snape?" Harry frowned. Out of all the things he needed to hear right now, Snape also being one of the professors who is guarding the stone is the worst.

"Yeah -- yer still not on abou' that are yeh?" Hagrid groaned slightly, eyeing Harry with a slightly narrowed look. "Look, Snape helped protect the stone. He's not about ter steal it."

Harry was about to open his mouth to ask Hagrid something but then he suddenly remembered how strongly (Y/N) felt about accusing the head of the Slytherin house. 

The raven haired boy turned to look at (Y/N), who was frowning but didn't say anything as they kept patting the sleeping Fang.

In Ron's case, he was just as anxious as Harry and Hermione were and the three seemed to have the same thoughts based on their facial expressions; if Snape is one of the professors guarding the stone, then there's a high chance that he already knows all of the spells that are guarding the stone.

From the looks of it, Snape doesn't know how to get past Quirrell's spell and Fluffy so the Gryffindors were somewhat reassured.

"You're the only one who knows how to get past Fluffy, aren't you, Hagrid?" Ron asked anxiously as he gripped the arms of the sofa tightly. "And you wouldn't tell anyone, would you? Not even the teachers?"

"Not a soul knows except me an' Dumbledore." Hagrid said, proudly. This reassured the three Gryffindors as they heaved a small sigh of relief. 

(Y/N), who listened to the whole thing, silently huffed angrily through their nose.

Although, they couldn't exactly blame them for thinking that way because they don't know anything, (Y/N) felt like blaming Snape and perceiving him as someone who has an evil motive just doesn't sit right with them.

"Well, that's something..." Hermione leaned down to the sofa, closing her eyes for a moment to take a small rest from all the tension that was just released in the atmosphere.

Silence engulfed the hut for a moment and nothing could be heard except Fang's heavy breathing as he laid his head on (Y/N)'s lap.

It wasn't until Harry stood up from his seat, fanning himself using his hand while exhaling softly. "Hagrid, can we have a window open? I'm boiling."

"Yeah, it's getting kinda hot in here." (Y/N) breathed out while feeling a sweat trickle down to their chin and down to their neck. Harry noticed this, following the trickling sweat and blushing once he saw their neck.

Although that necklace was taking most of the space in their neck, which greatly displeased him. 

"Can't, 'arry, sorry." Hagrid apologized briefly while looking over to the furnace. 

Harry gulped before tearing his green eyes away from the Slytherin's bare, soft neck and looking over at Hagrid.

The raven haired Gryffindor quirked an eyebrow up before looking over to see where Hagrid is looking at. 

In the very heart of the fire, deep in the furnace, a large black egg sat there.

"Hagrid, what's that?" Harry pointed at the egg, making the other three twist their heads to where Harry was pointing.

"Ah," Hagrid fumbled with his words while scratching his large beard nervously, "That's... err-"

"It's a dragon egg, isn't it?" (Y/N) tilted their head to the side innocently at Hagrid. 

Before the gamekeeper could answer and deny the Slytherin's question, Ron already walked his way towards the fire and leaning closer to the black dragon egg to examine it.

"Where'd you get it, Hagrid?" Ron asked, somewhat enthusiastically since he's never been able to see a dragon egg this close before. "It must've cost you a fortune."

"Won it," Hagrid said while sighing in defeat, knowing that he won't be able to get his way out in this and lie to four eleven year olds. "Las' night. I was down in the village havin' a few drinks an' got into a game o' cards with a stranger. Think he was quite glad ter get rid of it, to be honest."

"That's strange, why would he just carry a dragon egg around and be glad to get rid of it?" (Y/N) crossed their arms, shifting their eyes around while resisting the urge to laugh and tell them that it's actually Quirrell who was carrying this egg around.

Hagrid, however, ignored (Y/N) with a shrug. They didn't like being ignored but then again, they understood that Hagrid just wants a dragon and the doubt of other people isn't going to make him change his mind. 

It's not like he'd like it anyway if someone criticized his choice of keeping a freaking dragon egg inside a hut.

"And what are you going to do once it hatches?" Hermione asked, glancing over at (Y/N) skeptically for asking that question. The fact that they're acting a bit suspicious about it adds more to the strange factor.

"Well, I've been doin' some readin'," Hagrid grinned broadly while pulling out a large book from under his pillow.

**_Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit_ **

"oh, it's the book that he took from the library this afternoon." (Y/N) mumbled, staring at it and observing the cover. Its color is deep red and it seemed like it was made from leather. 

Though, this didn't cover up the fact that it's somewhat worn out and been used for quite some time now.

The inscription in the book was gold and it seemed to be printed though (Y/N) couldn't be too sure as they were quite far away from Hagrid when he held it up.

"Got this outta the library; Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit. It's a bit outta date, o' course but it's all in here." Hagrid said, placing the book on the table before flipping to a certain page while smiling happily. "Keep the egg in the fire, 'cause their mothers breathe on 'em, see. An' when it hatches, feed it on a bucket o' brandy mixed with chicken blood every half hour."

The gamekeeper continued to tell the four students what he was going to do with the dragon once it hatches, excitedly as well. 

(Y/N) was concerned for what comes to Hagrid once someone finds out that he's been keeping an illegal dragon egg, but the Slytherin thought that if he's happy about it then it doesn't really matter.

"An' see here," Hagrid flipped another page and pointed at the drawing of a black egg in the page with a few inscriptions beside it. "How ter recognize diff'rent eggs. What I got there's a Norwegian Ridgeback. They're rare, them."

"Yeah, and what are you going to do once it gets big enough to swallow your house whole?" (Y/N) asked, crossing their arms while trying to move Fang's head away from their lap since they needed to stand up and stretch their legs for a bit.

No one replied to (Y/N)'s question but they couldn't miss the frown that Hagrid had when they asked him that. 

On (Y/N)'s part, they certainly didn't mean to sadden the man but at the same time, they needed to tell him and show him a small glimpse of reality.

"Hey, I'm just saying that a dragon wouldn't exactly be the best house partner when it gets big." The Slytherin shrugged and stood up slowly once they felt that Fang's head was away from their lap.

"Well, that is true and we need to consider-" Harry's words stopped abruptly when he heard a cracking and a scraping noise coming from the fire where the egg sat. 

(Y/N), realizing that the egg is about to hatch, walked over to Hagrid hastily and tugged on his brown sleeve.

"Hagrid, take it out of the fire. It's about to hatch!" (Y/N) exclaimed, making the half giant panic and frantically walk over to the fire. 

He stuck his hand inside the fire to take the egg out, making Hermione and (Y/N) wince, thinking that it must hurt and that Hagrid must've burned his hand.

To their surprise, Hagrid seemed to be fine as he hastily placed it on the table. After a few seconds, the cracks on the black egg widened and from those cracks, the egg split open.

The baby dragon flopped itself on the table, a few sticky clear strings clinging on to it from the insides of the egg where it just flopped out of. 

Though it was interesting to see a baby dragon for the first time, it wasn't exactly pretty.

Harry thought it was a crumpled black umbrella. Ron thought that it was a bundle of black moss. Hermione thought that it looks like a baby bat while (Y/N) just thought of it as the young dark lord that will soon conquer the earth with its flames engulfing the entire world whole.

The spiny wings of the dragon were huge compared to its skinny jet body. It had a long snout with wide nostrils, small stubs of horns in its head and bulging and fiery orange eyes.

"Aw, she doesn't look _that_ bad." (Y/N) cooed, observing the baby Ridgeback sneezing as a couple of sparks flew out of its snout. 

"She?" Harry turned to look at the Slytherin, wondering why they assumed that it was a girl. Even Hagrid turned to look at them skeptically, and he's the one who knows a lot more about dragons.

(Y/N), who already knew the dragon's gender _and_ its future name, sweat dropped while chuckling nervously and scratching the back of their head.

"I just... have a feeling that she's a girl." (Y/N) lied, earning a curious look from everyone in the hut before turning to look back at the dragon in astonishment.

"Well, if young (Y/N) 'ere thinks that she's a girl, then she is." Hagrid laughed heartily while patting (Y/N)'s head, causing their hair to ruffle. 

(Y/N) laughed back, arranging their hair to make it less messy by running their fingers through their (H/C) hair.

"Isn't she just beautiful?" Hagrid smiles, reaching out to the female baby dragon to stroke its head but to everyone, except Hagrid's, surprise, it snapped at its fingers while showing its small yet seemingly sharp fangs.

"Bless her, look, she knows her mummy!" The gamekeeper laughed, lovingly staring at his dragon while the four eleven year olds just stared at him and the dragon, wondering what he's going to do now and how is he going to hide it.

"I've decided to call her--"

"Norbert...a!" (Y/N) said, almost too quickly and startling almost everyone in the room. Hagrid stared at them for a moment before smiling widely, snapping his large fingers at the Slytherin.

"I like how your mind works, (Y/N)." He laughed while cooing at Norberta for a brief moment. "I was about to call 'er Peaches but I like yours better!" Hagrid said while wiggling his finger around Norberta, as if he's playing with her.

"Why does it seem like those two are about to lose their marbles?" Ron whispered towards Harry, staring at (Y/N) and Hagrid talking and having the same enthusiasm when it comes to animals.

"I mean, as long as (Y/N)'s happy about it, it doesn't seem too bad." Harry lovingly stared at (Y/N) as they laughed and smiling happily at Hagrid and Norberta. 

He certainly wouldn't mind this as long as he could see them smiling and laughing all the time.

Ron grumbled at Harry's answer and realized that he's getting to caught up with staring at the Slytherin for a long period of time. 

He stared at Norberta for a moment before sighing and looking over to Hermione, who had an observing look towards (Y/N).

 _What exactly did (Y/N) do to them?_ Ron shook his head with a frown.

It wasn't until Hermione drifted her thoughts away from (Y/N) and looking over at Hagrid with her face lit up, as if she just realized something critically important.

"Hagrid, how fast do Norwegian Ridgebacks grow, exactly?" Hermione asked urgently. 

Hagrid turned to look at Hermione and was about to answer until his face paled and his mouth parted in surprise. 

Suddenly, the gamekeeper leapt to his feet and ran over to the window that was a few feet away from Hermione.

 _Well, I mean, this was bound to happen one way or another_ , (Y/N)'s face paled as well as they looked down to the wooden floor nervously. They knew exactly why Hagrid reacted like that.

"Hagrid, what's the matter?" Ron was on alert now as he stared at Hagrid nervously. He knows that this wouldn't be something good.

"Someone was lookin' through the gap in the curtains. It's a kid, he's runnin' back up ter the school." Hagrid's voice shook for a moment as he kept staring out of the window. 

Harry gasped briefly before running out to the front door and looking over to the pathway to the castle.

Even at a distance, there's no mistaking him; that platinum blonde hair. Harry bit his lip, thinking what (Y/N) had told everyone a while ago.

_"And are you sure that you're not followed?" Ron intervened which led (Y/N) to remove their attention on me but Harry, specifically, didn't mind. As long as they somewhat apologized, everything is fine._

_"Yep! I am a hundred percent sure!" (Y/N) gave us a thumbs up while Ron and Hermione just looked at each other skeptically, unsure of the Slytherin's ability to conceal themselves when they're being followed._

"It was Malfoy." Harry entered back inside the hut, looking over at (Y/N), who had their eyes glued on somewhere else, as if they looked guilty and knew what was going to happen.

"What!?" Ron almost fainted at Harry's words as he took a step back in surprise. 

"(Y/N)," Hermione turned towards the (H/C) haired Slytherin with a frantic look on her face, "You said you weren't being followed." 

"I did," (Y/N) sighed sadly, not knowing what to respond to the female Gryffindor. "I made sure that no one followed us. I even had to take a detour to get to the Gryffindor common room." They crossed their arms in defeat while looking down to the floor in thought.

"Did you make sure that Malfoy was asleep when you sneaked out?" Hermione asked again.

"He was asleep since 8 PM. He was snoring and let me tell you, he snores when he sleeps. A lot." (Y/N) thought back to those nights where they actually woke up due to Draco snoring. They had to twist and turn around for a couple of times before they were able to sleep.

Everyone was silent for a moment until Harry went up to (Y/N), placing a reassuring hand on their shoulder to tell them that it wasn't their fault. 

"In any case, we should head back to our common rooms now. It won't be long until Malfoy comes back here with Filch." Harry said as he began to walk to the front door. Everyone nodded in agreement, except for Hagrid.

The gamekeeper stared at Norberta for a moment in concern, as the thought of Malfoy telling McGonagall or Snape about his dragon coursed through his mind. Norberta would definitely be taken away from him.

"Be safe." is all Hagrid could say to them as they nodded apologetically at him before walking out of his hut.

"I'm sorry, Hagrid." (Y/N) muttered underneath their breath as they followed the Gryffindors back in the castle.

Nobody talked to each other. All they could think of was how to get out of trouble, not being seen and go back to their common rooms safe and sound. 

Hermione was the most nervous out of them all, she'd never gotten in trouble before and knowing Draco, he would definitely tell McGonagall or any of the professors about them sneaking out of the castle at night.

"Well, well, well. We are in trouble." Everyone was startled at the voice of Filch at the end of the corridor they were walking in. 

(Y/N) resisted the urge to curse loudly but found it odd why they didn't encounter McGonagall and Draco first, Harry gulped nervously, Ron was about to faint due to being anxious while Hermione just squeaked out in fear.

"Is it too late now to tell everyone that it's going to be alright?" (Y/N) nervously laughed, trying to lighten up the mood but inevitably failed as Filch dragged them off to where (Y/N) knows he's going to drag them to,

McGonagall's office.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

Well, things couldn't have been worse.

Filch took us to Professor McGonagall's office where we sat and waited for the head of the Gryffindor house to come and give us an earful of scolding. 

Not only that, this will ultimately lead us to go to the Forbidden Forest to serve our detention.

There was no reason, on Earth, that Professor McGonagall would accept for us being out of bed and creeping around the school in the dead of night, let alone being in a staff's house late at night. 

Add Norberta and I'm sure all of us would be packing our bags on our way home.

I glanced over to Harry, Ron and Hermione. I can tell that Hermione's petrified out of her mind right now as she kept her brown eyes on her slippers while trying to think of alibi and cover-ups to deem us, or her, as innocent.

Harry and Ron seems to be doing the same thing but I already gave up trying to prove myself innocent since this is Professor McGonagall we're talking about and you can't prove yourself innocent once it's clear that you've violated the rules and caught red-handed.

Suddenly, the doors opened. I turned around and almost choked on my own spit when I saw Professor Snape walking right behind Professor McGonagall. Draco also walked towards us with a bitter look on his face. 

Now, I'm having even less of a good night.

But to my utter surprise, Alem walked behind Draco with the same bitter look that the platinum blonde haired boy has. 

Questions rumbled through my brain, trying to wonder why the hell is my brother here and why is he up so late.

He couldn't have been with Draco when he saw us in Hagrid's hut, did he?

But, I immediately pushed the thought of Alem away from my mind as my eyes drifted towards Snape's tired and sunken look. 

The head of my own house will determine my fate and knowing Snape, he's probably going to expel me. 

I've done so many things that pissed him off and he did tell me that he sees me sleeping on his class so the possibility isn't too far-

"I would never have believed it, of any of you. Mr. Filch, Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Rosewood says you were wandering around the halls and was in Hagrid's hut. It's one o' clock in the morning. _Explain yourselves_." Professor McGonagall's voice echoed around the room, snapping me out of my thoughts and look up to the towering professor with fear.

Salazar, even Professor Snape looks so displeased with me and Draco. His death glare is enough to make me sink in my seat and disappear for the rest of my life.

"I think I've got a good idea of what's been going on," Professor McGonagall rubbed the temples of her head in anger with a groan. "It doesn't take a genius to work it out. You fed Draco Malfoy some cock-and-bull story about a dragon, trying to get him out of bed and into trouble. I've already caught him. I suppose you think it's funny that Rosewood here heard the story and believed it, too?"

I glance over to Alem, who didn't seem to be looking at me. Instead, he was just crossing his arms while he leaned down to his seat and looked somewhere else on the office. 

He looks pissed, that's for sure.

"I'm disgusted," Professor McGonagall's harsh words caused all of us to flinch and frown. "Six students out of bed in one night! I've never heard of such a thing before!" 

"You, Miss Granger, I thought you had more sense. Miss/Mr. Rosewood, you have always been a trouble child but I did not expect you to go this far. As for you, Mr. Potter, I thought Gryffindor meant more to you than this." The head of the Gryffindor exhaled angrily through her nose, glaring at us with such fury that if looks could kill, I think we would all be dead by now.

"All six of you will receive detentions – yes, you too, Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Rosewood, _nothing_ gives you the right to walk around school at night, especially these days, it's very dangerous – and fifty points will be taken from Gryffindor and Slytherin." I look over at Alem again and his bitter expression deepened, his narrowed (E/C) eyes looks like he wants to curse and hex someone at the same time.

I heard Harry and Ron gasp beside me, clearly surprised and fearful of McGonagall's decision to take fifty points from our houses.

"Fifty!?" Harry exclaimed as he almost stood up from his seat to object the head of his head.

"Fifty points _each_." McGonagall said as Harry looked like he was about to cry. 

I frown and placed my hand on top of his, attempting to reassure him and comfort him. His expression softened but the sad look that he held on his face didn't disappear.

"Professor, please-" Ron tried to reason out but was immediately cut by Harry.

"You can't-" 

"Don't tell me what I can and can't do, Potter. Now get back to bed, all of you. I've never been more ashamed of Gryffindor students." McGonagall shook her head in stress before walking out of her office with Filch following behind her. 

I couldn't miss the smug smile that he held as he walked out, that tattletale. 

Everyone was silent as Professor Snape was the only one who was left in the room, the head of the Slytherin house.

"Well, Miss/Mr. Rosewood." I flinch at Snape's voice. I had to double check if he wasn't talking to Alem but my guts told me that he was, indeed, talking to me. "You are lucky that you are just a first year student, otherwise, I would've given you something worse as a punishment." 

I look up to the potions master with a small frown on my lips. I still couldn't believe that Snape is here, considering that he wasn't at the time when this scene happened. 

Is it because three Slytherins are here and McGonagall felt the need to pull Snape here?

Heck, even Neville isn't here and he is _supposed_ to be here.

"Expulsion." Snape answered the question that I was about to ask him, making me hang my head down low in shame and fear. 

I didn't want to answer the potions master now, or else I would definitely be expelled.

"Go to bed and do not do it again, that goes for you too, Mr. Malfoy." Snape walked over towards the door with his black robe fluttering behind him. Even though no one is in the room now, none of us moved nor say a word. 

It's as if someone is still scolding and judging us for doing something illegal.

After a few seconds, Alem was the first one to stand up and walk out of the room without saying anything. 

I frown at this before glancing over at the trio, waiting for them to stand up and walk away as well but judging from the look of their faces, I guess it would take them a while to recover from the shame and guilt that McGonagall just gave them.

"Well, I'll be going with Draco." I stand up, sighing as Draco stood up from his seat as well. He certainly looks bitter and sour for being punished but honestly, I wouldn't blame him. 

I'm pretty bummed out too even though I already know what's going to happen anyway.

"Good night, you guys. I hope you have a nice sleep." As naive and stupid those words were, I needed to tell them that anyway, just in case they needed comfort. Draco beckoned for me to come with him as he gently poked my arm.

I take one last glance at the Gryffindors before walking out of the office and towards the Slytherin common room with Draco.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

Well, that comfort just went down the drain.

The Gryffindors found out that they lost a hundred and fifty points yesterday because of Harry while us, the Slytherins, also lost a hundred and fifty points. Nobody couldn't figure out why we also lost a huge amount of points, until they realized that I was a part of Harry's friend circle.

And rumors say that Harry was with a bunch of 'stupid' first years when they lost the points.

Alem wasn't exactly happy with me either. We didn't talk but I could tell, from the way he looks at me, that he's very displeased with what I've done. He's also going to serve detention with us tonight so that's great.

The note that McGonagall gave us this breakfast started all of this dread mood and silence from the first years that lost a hundred and fifty points last night.

**_Your detention will take place at eleven o' clock tonight._ **

**_Meet Mr. Filch in the entrance hall._ **

**_ Professor M. McGonagall _ **

I didn't expect it to come this sooner but time is moving fast in this world, so what did I expect?

Though most of the Slytherins aren't happy, we're still in the lead to get the house cup and the Gryffindors losing a hundred and fifty points is enough for us to secure the house cup. 

The treatment that I get from my fellow housemates aren't that bad as Harry is getting, since he's being insulted by Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws (they really wanted Slytherin to lose the house cup), but still pretty bad in some cases.

No one said anything to Draco, probably because they're scared of confronting him.

"Thanks, Potter! We owe you one!" One of the Slytherins clapped and whistled at Harry as they walked past us. I grumble and shot the Slytherin a glare before turning to Harry and holding his hand in reassurance.

He's the one getting beat up by all of these hate so the least I can do is comfort him.

"Don't worry, Harry. I'm sure they'd forget all of it in a few days or so." I told, ignoring the stares and glares of the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws that were being sent towards me and Harry. 

"Yeah, Fred and George have lost loads of points in all the time they've been here, and people still like them." Ron piped in from beside Harry, standing right by his side even though he's being bombarded with all of this hate.

"They've never lost a hundred and fifty points in one go, though, have they?" said Harry miserably as he looked like he was about to cry. 

_Aw, poor thing_. I thought while thinking of just hugging this poor boy and squeeze the misery out of him.

"Well – no," Ron admitted while looking down. 

The three of us didn't say anything as we walked to our next class with the sad atmosphere making us frown and suck the life out of us.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

Eleven o'clock striked, making me hop out of my bed and close my gameboy, much to my dismay. 

I was still playing, so leaving my game, although I had already finished it before, leaves a bad taste in my mouth. 

Alem was already gone from the common room so I assume that he already went on ahead. 

Draco was the only one left in the room while Crabbe and Goyle just slept soundly as their bodies sprawled across the bed.

Damn, my brother really doesn't want to talk to me.

"Tch, my father will hear about this. I swear, this is so unfair." Draco muttered but I could definitely hear it. I held the urge to laugh and possibly, offend the platinum blonde haired boy.

"Hey, Draco," I strike up a conversation, "Why was Alem out of bed last night? Did he follow you?" I ask the question that kept ringing in my mind last night. 

Draco turned to look at me, an eyebrow quirked up before he turned to look forward on the stone path.

"You could say that. _He_ was the one who told me to follow you." He replied and his answer surprised me, to say the least. 

"What?" I frowned, hoping to get more answers from the Malfoy heir but it was cut short as I realized that we were already in the entrance hall, much to my displeasure.

I know that Alem knows that we've been up to no good but did he really have to come and sneak out just to see what we were doing and pulling Draco along with him?

_Unless..._

I look at the two figures standing in the distance. Only Filch and Alem was there. My brother was leaning on the wall with an angry look on his face and his mouth curled into a pout. 

_Was he worried for me?_

I walk beside the spot near Alem and tried to strike a conversation with my twin brother, but the angry side glare that wasn't even directed towards me made me drop the thought and continue standing there in silence.

"I'm still angry at you." Alem spoke and this startled me since I didn't expect him to talk. I look at him and he wasn't looking back at me. 

Smiling softly, I also lean on the wall with my arms crossed and my eyes closed.

I didn't say anything and neither did Alem, but it's not like he needed to.

It didn't take for Harry, Ron and Hermione to come to the entrance hall with a dreaded look on their faces. I open my eyes when I heard footsteps walking towards us. 

When Harry's green eyes landed on me, they widened for a moment before they softened.

Did he seriously forget that the three of us are going to have detention too?

"Follow me." Filch didn't spare us some time to greet each other as he led us outside while holding a warm lamp on his right hand.

"I bet you'll think twice about breaking a school rule again, won't you, eh?" He said, leering at us. I flick my eyes over to him before silently smirking, remembering that the golden trio just gives a middle finger to the school rules as soon as the year progresses.

"Oh yes, hard work and pain are the best teachers if you ask me. It's just a pity that they let the old punishments die out; hang you by your wrists from the ceiling for a few days and I've got the chains still in my office, keep 'em well oiled in case they're ever needed." While Filch was having his monologue about how he liked the old punishments better, we were all being uncomfortable off how visibly sadistic he is to the students.

"Well, aren't you sadistic." I mutter, making sure that Filch didn't hear us or else I would probably get screamed at for questioning his taste for punishments.

We continued to march across the dark grounds and I couldn't miss the cold air of the night as I rubbed my arms together in order to heat myself. 

Now I regret my choice of wearing a plain white shirt and the black jogging pants in the middle of the night.

I felt a cloth draping over my shoulders gently. I look up to see Draco giving me his black short cloak. 

He seemed to be blushing but I couldn't be too sure since the light around the area is too dim to confirm.

"Thanks but aren't you going to get cold too?" I tug the cloak closer to my body, tying the small laces near the neck so it wouldn't fall out. 

Draco sighed and pointed at his silver sweater before continuing to walk beside me.

"Honestly, I don't get why you never wear warm clothing during the night or during the cold." Draco sighs, closing in the distance between us and letting our shoulders touch. 

He's a bit taller than me so my shoulder can only touch his forearm.

"I'm a strong independent woman/man, I don't need any clothes to keep me warm during the cold." I puff out my chest proudly until another cold wind blew, making me shudder and tug the cloak closer to me.

I heard Draco scoff beside me but didn't say anything as we kept walking to where Filch is leading us to.

The moon was bright, but clouds scudding across it kept throwing them into darkness. Even the fog that's already visible near the Forbidden Forest made everything look so eerie and creepy.

Ahead, we could see the lighted windows of Hagrid's hut and from the front door, the familiar large figure of Hagrid stepped out with a large crossbow and a quiver of arrows hung over his shoulder. 

As we got closer, I could see him holding a crossbow as his small eyes looked puffy and red.

Behind Hagrid was Fang. The boarhound sniffed around the air for a moment before he turned his head and scampered towards me with some of his slobber falling out of his mouth.

"Hey there, bud!" I greet Fang, patting his head as he wagged his tail happily at my presence. 

I heard Draco whimper slightly at the sight of Fang as he moved a bit behind me to hide from the boarhound dog.

"Is that you, Filch? Hurry up, I want ter get started." He sniffed, sighing sadly while looking down to the ground.

"A sorry lot this, Hagrid." Filch sneered towards us before looking over to Hagrid. "Oh, good god, you're not still on about that bloody dragon, are you?"

I quirk an eyebrow up at Filch, wondering why he already knows. I'm assuming that Dumbledore and the other professors know then. 

I realized that McGonagall did bring up that she knew that we were in Hagrid's hut, so she must've went here to talk or check out why we were here.

"Norberta's gone." He sniffed once more, "Dumbledore sent 'er off ter Romania ter live in a colony." 

"Wait, isn't your brother, Charlie, in Romania?" I look over at Ron, who nodded in response.

"Well that's good, isn't it? He'll be with his own kind." Hermione said sadly, kicking a random pebble on the ground.

"Yeah, but what if he don't like Romania?" Hagrid frowned, "What if the other dragons are mean to 'im? He's only a baby, af'tr all."

"Oh, sweet Merlin's beard, pull yourself together." Filch groaned in annoyance, "You're going to the forest, after all. Got to have your wits about you."

Draco almost stumbled when Filch mentioned that we were going in the forest, which earned a small snicker from me. 

I had completely forgotten that he's such a pussy.

"The forest?" He repeated, trying to see if what Filch said was true but when he could only stare at the Malfoy heir maliciously, he gulped. "We can't go in there at night! There's all sorts of things in there - werewolves, I heard!" 

An owl hooted from the forest, making all of us turn our heads towards the looming and dark view of the forest.

How intimidating.

"That's your problem, isn't it?" Filch's voice cracked with glee, looking at us with a happy expression on his face. I roll my eyes at this, finding his enthusiasm to see us suffer to be ridiculous.

Ain't our problem that you're a squib.

"Should've thought of them werewolves before you got in trouble, shouldn't you?" Filch continued while Draco just grumbled and whimpered at the same time, looking over to the forest through my shoulder.

"Don' scare them, Filch." Hagrid sighed, looking over to us with a small smile to reassure us and making sure that we're alright.

"I shouldn't be too friendly to them, Hagrid." Filch growled, shooting us a cold glare. "They're here to be punished, after all."

"That's why yer late, is it?" The gamekeeper seemed to be displeased at Filch, "Bin lecturin' them, eh? 'snot your place ter do that. Yeh've done yer bit, I'll take over from here."

Honestly, bless Hagrid.

I was more pleased at the sight of Filch's angry face when he knows that he's not in charge of punishing us. 

"I'll be back at dawn," he said as he turned around to go back to the castle, "for what's left of them." Filch added nastily before walking back to the castle, his lamp bobbing away in the darkness.

"I am not going in that forest." Draco turned to Hagrid, standing up his ground while crossing his arms stubbornly.

"Yeh are if yeh want ter stay at Hogwarts," The gamekeeper said, fiercely. "Yeh've done wrong an' now yeh've got ter pay fer it." 

Oh gee, I wonder why we're even here in the first place.

I thought while watching the two bickering. Fang kept circling himself around my feet while rubbing his head against my legs, making me smile and pat him again.

"But this is servant stuff, it's not for students to do! I thought we'd be copying lines or something, if my father knew I was doing this, he'd-" 

"-tell you that's how it is at Hogwarts." Alem piped in the conversation with a small annoyed tone laced on his voice. "Honestly, Malfoy, what did you expect after violating a school rule and Professor McGonagall's way of punishing students?" 

"Hey, don't you dare tell me that when you were the one who told me to follow (Y/N)." Draco said aggressively, turning to look at my brother with his silver eyes narrowed.

"Are you sure you didn't follow (Y/N) just because I told you so?" Alem replied back with a deadpan look, unaffected by Draco's aggression as he kept his tired yet narrowed (E/C) eyes on him.

What the fuck is going on? I thought in confusion while glancing back and forth at the two bickering boys. 

I know that those two aren't on best terms ever since we started but damn, this is very tense.

Completely different from the sassy and aggression that Draco and Alem had during our first night at school.

The two kept looking at each other, almost as if they're battling telepathically. It wasn't until Hagrid coughed nervously in order to bring all of our attention back to him.

"Right then," Hagrid said awkwardly, eyeing the three of us in the Slytherin house with an indescribable look, "now, listen carefully, 'cause it's dangerous what we're gonna do tonight, an' I don' want no one takin' risks."

Oh joy, more trouble and life-threatening situations for me! I thought bitterly while thinking that the universe probably wants me to die so soon.

"Follow me over here for a moment." Hagrid said and led us over to the edge of the forest. Fang followed beside me, panting happily as he kept rubbing his head on my leg. 

Once we arrived, he held his lamp up high and pointed down a narrow, winding earth track that disappeared into the thick, black trees.

I felt a chill run down my spine as I saw the darkness looming over the forest. It felt like something was going to jump out at us at any moment since everyone took a step back, including me, once we felt like we were being too close to the forest as a light breeze lifted our hair.

I could see few silhouettes of birds and owls flying around the branches of the dark trees and it made me feel like we weren't alone, so that's a bit reassuring. 

Though the idea of going inside a forest that's known to be extremely dangerous completely throws that reassuring thought out of the window.

Observed closely, you can see a small yet long trail of silver and seemingly sparkling liquid, which I immediately recognized as unicorn blood. 

I cringe once I saw the blood for real this time, and not just in the movie or imagining how it would look like while reading the book.

There's something strange about how the blood looks that it makes me feel queasy. Maybe it's because it's shining and it's silver? I'm not too sure myself.

"Look there, see that stuff shinin' on the ground? Silvery stuff? That's unicorn blood." Hagrid pointed at the silver trail on the dirty pathway towards the forest, "There's a unicorn in there, been hurt badly by summat. This is the second time in a week. I found one dead last Wednesday." 

I heard Fang whine and whimper as Hagrid explained, making me look down at the boarhound dog with a frown and comforting him by patting his head once more.

"We're gonna try an' find the poor thing. We might have ter put it out of its misery." Hagrid retracted his finger away as he loaded his crossbow, getting ready to get inside the forest.

"And what if whatever hurt the unicorn finds us first?" Draco asked, gulping and holding my wrist for comfort. 

I didn't really mind since I know that he tends to get scared very easily and if this is making him calm his nerves, then it's good.

"There's nothin' that lives in the forest that'll hurt yeh if yer with me or Fang." Hagrid rolled his eyes at Draco's cowardice while slinging the loaded crossbow over his shoulder. "An' keep ter the path. Right now, we're gonna split inter two parties an' follow the trail in diff'rent directions. There's blood all over the place, it must've been staggerin' around since last night, at least."

I frowned, thinking of the unicorn that Voldemort will suck the life out of. I pity the dead unicorns that Voldemort killed but then, I started to think of the silver blood and that's enough to make me wince and cringe at the same time.

"I want Fang." Draco said quickly, looking down at Fang, who's looking up at me with a happy gaze and rhythmic pants escaping his mouth. You can see his long teeth if you look too close.

"All right, but I warn yeh, he's a coward." Hagrid sighed while looking at us, shifting his eyes around while thinking. After a few seconds, he opened his mouth to speak.

"So me, Harry, Hermione, an' Ron'll go one way an' Alem, (Y/N), Fang an' Draco'll go to the other." Hagrid explained, sorting us into our groups to search for the dead unicorn. 

"Why can't (Y/N) come with us?" I heard Harry ask from the back, making me turn to look at him curiously. 

Why would it matter if I'm grouped with them or not?

"Three Slytherins an' three Gryffindors, Harry. It be wise ter group all o' you by your houses." Hagrid explained while Harry just frowned and looked down to the grass in disappointment. 

Maybe he just wanted me to be grouped with them because I'm their friend.

I'm flattered at the thought but Hagrid's right and it's pretty damn awkward if Hermione or Ron switched with my place. Knowing Draco, he's probably more than ready to ridicule those two while I'm not there.

And Alem doesn't look like he cares, to be honest.

"Now, if any of us finds the unicorn, we'll send up green sparks, 'right? Get yer wands out an' practice now." Hagrid said as everyone sighed and pulled their wands out, except for me.

I paled at this, placing my hands all over my clothes before realizing that I left my wand back in my room. 

Salazar, I forgot to bring it and I didn't think that it would be necessary since all we needed was to find a goddamn unicorn.

"Um," I gulped as I nervously raised my hand up, "I didn't bring my wand with me. I forgot it back in my room."

"Forgot it? How can yer just forget it?" Hagrid frowned at my reason which made me feel embarrassed since I don't like it when I'm being called out for being stupid, even though I am.

ugh, and I'm supposed to know everything about this fictional world.

"I didn't think that it was necessary." I scratch the back of my head, lowering my gaze down to avoid the confused looks that everyone gave me. 

Salazar, I can feel the embarrassment crawl on my skin that it makes me want to faint.

"Well there's nothing we can do abou' that." Hagrid sighs before looking over at Draco and Alem. "You two better look af'tr (Y/N) an' don' leave them." 

"If anyone gets in trouble, send up red sparks, an' we'll all come an' find yeh - so, be careful." Hagrid told, giving us one final look as we nodded understandingly. 

Satisfied, the gamekeeper turned around, ready to venture inside the forest.

"'Right, let's go." 

»»————- ♡ ————-««

The forest was black and silent, no one could bring themselves to talk or say anything except listening to the distant hoots of owls and cicadas crying nearby. 

(Y/N) tugged on Draco's black cloak tightly, realizing that cicadas crying is a sign of someone or something dying.

It's eerie, to say the least.

Harry stared at (Y/N) from behind, still disappointed that they weren't in their group. 

He was hissing and growling at how close Draco was and although it was very subtle, Harry couldn't hide his hate for the Malfoy heir.

If anything, Harry felt like he wanted to kill him this instant or just leave him in the forest, hoping to get eaten by werewolves that encounter him.

He's never been this angry before, apart from Dudley and his uncle and aunt giving him daily doses of headaches and the urge to 'accidentally' trip his cousin down to the stairs for bothering him every day.

It's a miracle that Harry hasn't snapped yet.

When the group reached a fork in the path, they stared at each other for a while until they all decided on which way to go. Hagrid's group took the left path while (Y/N)'s group took the right.

Harry didn't want to leave (Y/N) alone with Draco but when he remembered that Alem is with them, he felt a small twinge of reassurance since he was sure that Alem wouldn't let Draco do anything to (Y/N), let alone flirt.

Once separated, (Y/N) felt extremely awkward. They realized that they aren't on good terms with Alem and they don't really have a specific topic to talk about with Draco.

The only one who (Y/N) can distract themselves with is Fang, but it's not like boarhounds can talk.

With a sigh, (Y/N) continued to walk in silence when they remembered that they will meet up with Harry and the others soon enough because of Draco's overreaction.

On Harry's group, Hagrid is currently talking to a centaur named Ronan. Everything is going smoothly until a second centaur came in, alerting everyone in their positions.

"Hullo, Bane," Hagrid greeted the black haired centaur as he lowered his crossbow.

"Good evening, Hagrid. I hope you are doing well." Bane nodded, acknowledging Hagrid and the three Gryffindors' presence as he looked over at them. 

"Well enough." Hagrid nodded back, replying to Bane. "Look, I've jus' been askin' Ronan, you seen anythin' odd in here lately? There's a unicorn been injured - would yeh know anythin' about it?" 

Bane walked over to stand next to Ronan silently, not knowing what to reply to the gamekeeper of Hogwarts as he looked skyward. 

"Mars is bright tonight," Bane said simply, repeating what Ronan had said a few moments ago when Hagrid had seen the red haired centaur.

"We've heard." Hermione muttered grumpily, getting fed up of receiving the same answer from the centaurs. 

The lack of sleep and the reminder that she is serving detention made her cranky and definitely plummeted her mood down to the drain.

Even Hagrid is getting grumpy at the response of the centaurs.

"Well, if either of you do see anythin', let me know, won't yeh? We'll be off then." Hagrid nodded briefly at the two centaurs before walking out of the clearing. 

The three Gryffindors followed him as Harry stared at Ronan and Bane over their shoulders until the trees blocked his view.

"Never," Hagrid said irritably while rubbing the bridge of his nose and holding his crossbow tightly. "try an' get a straight answer out of a centaur. Ruddy stargazers. Not interested in anythin' closer'n the moon."

Nobody said anything to what Hagrid just ranted about as they kept walking deep inside the forest with dried leaves and twigs crunching beneath their feet.

Ron's stomach felt like it was empty as the feeling of dread kept looking over his head like the thick fog that's covering and floating up to their ankles. Hermione was still irritated and wanted to go and sleep but is still on alert, nonetheless.

Harry kept looking nervously over his shoulder as he had a very nasty feeling that he was being watched. 

The raven haired boy silently prayed that (Y/N) was safe, otherwise, he would've ran around the forest just to find and keep them safe from any harm.

The group was about to walk through a bend in the earth path until Hermione tugged on Hagrid's sleeve while pointing over to the right side of the forest with a fearful yet surprised look on her face.

"Hagrid, look! Red sparks - the others are in trouble!" Hermione exclaimed as the two boys glanced over to where Hermione was pointing at. Harry's heart heated loudly, fearing for whatever happened to (Y/N).

The fact that they don't have a wand to protect themselves made him more anxious.

Ten minutes hadn't even passed since the two groups have been separated and the other one is already in trouble.

"You three wait here!" Hagrid shouted sternly as Harry was about to dash over to the source of the red sparks, "Stay on the path! I'll come back fer yeh!" 

The gamekeeper ran passed around the trees until he disappeared completely from the Gryffindors' sights. They stood still on the path, looking at each other while looking around the dark and eerie forest with wary.

They couldn't hear anything but the rustling of leaves around them.

"You don't think they've been hurt, do you?" Ron whispered, leaning closer to the two to find comfort in this scary situation.

"I could care less if Malfoy has, but if something's got (Y/N) or Alem, it's our fault they're here in the first place." Harry frowned, thinking of (Y/N)'s safety and is on the edge of just running around the forest to search for the oldest Rosewood twin.

"I just hope that (Y/N) and Alem are alright..." Hermione held a look of worry, thinking about (Y/N) and how she would never forgive herself if they got hurt. 

The fatigue and the bad mood that the female Gryffindor had completely disappeared, and instead, it was replaced by a concerned one.

After a few minutes have passed by, a great crunching noise announced Hagrid's return. 

He was fuming with anger as he brought an incredibly pissed and tired Alem, a face-palming and disappointed (Y/N), a whimpering Fang, and a panicked and shameful Draco.

"Gee, thanks for leaving me alone back there!" Alem exclaimed angrily, huffing through his nose and crossing his arms in annoyance.

_While the four were walking through their pathway, Draco suddenly stopped and brought (Y/N) behind him._

_The Rosewood twins wondered why he just stopped until his face paled and brought his wand up, letting the red sparks fly around to signal Hagrid's group before grabbing (Y/N)'s wrist and run off from the path where they came from, leaving a confused and pissed off Alem behind._

Apparently, Draco saw a floating cloaked figure in the distance, staring right into his soul. 

If one had noticed closely, the figure was staring right at (Y/N), not at Draco. When the cloaked figure was getting to close for Draco's comfort, he panicked and flew the red sparks before running off with (Y/N).

"We'll be lucky ter catch anythin' now, with the racket you were makin'" Hagrid sighs in annoyance at Draco, who looked offended, while rubbing his head to relieve some stress.

"Right, we're changin' groups - Alem, you stay with me, Ron, an' Hermione. Harry, you go with Fang, (Y/N), an' this idiot, I'm sorry," Hagrid whispered to Harry at the end of his sentence while Draco felt like he was being insulted by the gamekeeper right now. "but he'll probably be a bit more sensible before firin' somethin' when you're there, an' we've gotta get this done."

Harry, however, wasn't even listening and felt like he was on cloud nine for being placed in the same group as (Y/N). 

Draco is not happy about it but can't object Hagrid's decision.

(Y/N) isn't really paying attention, and instead, giving Fang some chin scratches in order to comfort the boarhound for a little bit. They didn't mind being with Harry and Draco, those two are their friends, after all.

I mean, what could go wrong?

As the four set off into the heart of the forest, Harry and Draco kept sending each other death glares while (Y/N) remained oblivious to the two as they kept smiling at Fang, who's playing with a couple of twigs that he comes across.

This continued for almost half an hour until the three realized that the trees are getting thicker and thicker the more they venture inside the forest. 

Harry looked down to the ground and noticed that the silver blood seemed to be getting thicker as well, almost as if they were nearing their destination.

(Y/N)'s smile dropped as they gulped and feared for the worst as they knew exactly what comes next. 

After taking a few steps, the three stopped when they saw splashes on the roots of a tree, as though the poor creature had been thrashing around in pain close by.

Harry and (Y/N) could see a clearing up ahead, through the tangled branches of an ancient oak. The fog was getting thicker and thicker, making it seem impossible for the three to see anything further.

"Look-" Harry murmured as he held his arm out to stop Draco and (Y/N) from advancing any further. The raven haired boy had to pull (Y/N) closer to him so he would be able to protect them if something bad happens.

They inched closer when they saw something white gleaming on the ground. There's no mistaking it - it's the unicorn that they were looking for and its dead.

Some of its blood were still splattered around the unicorn, dripping from its legs and trickling down to its slender, long neck. It's long legs were stuck out at odd angles where it had fallen and its pearly-white mane was spread on the dark leaves.

(Y/N) pursed their lip, staring at the dead unicorn with slightly widened eyes. Though they couldn't bear to look something so sad, they couldn't look away. 

They hadn't seen an actual corpse before and seeing something dead with their eyes made them remember the times where they had mercilessly beaten up their peers back in their primary school and middle school. 

The students that (Y/N) used to beat up were on the edge of their life that one would think that they're dead if it wasn't for the shallow and faint breathing of (Y/N)'s victims, indicating that they're still clinging on.

Though no one had actually died because of (Y/N) before.

While (Y/N) was deep on their thoughts, Harry took one step forward towards it in order to examine it closer until a slithering sound made him freeze where he stood and pull (Y/N) closer to him once again, snapping the (H/C) haired Slytherin back to reality.

A bush on the edge of the clearing quivered for a moment. Then, out of the shadows, a hooded figure came crawling across the ground like some stalking beast looking for its poor prey.

Draco's face paled once more, it was the same hooded figure that he saw half an hour ago.

He knew he wasn't seeing things.

The four stood, transfixed on their position and not daring to move a single muscle, as if one single twitch of their finger is enough to make the figure know that someone is watching them. 

They watched as the figure reached for the unicorn and lowering its head over to the open wound on its side.

What surprised Harry and Draco was that the hooded figure began to sink its teeth in it, drinking its blood as if it's a vampire.

Although Draco wanted to stand on his ground and show (Y/N) that he wasn't scared, he couldn't help the terrible scream that came out of his throat. 

(Y/N) was about to slap Draco's forearm and tell him to be quiet but he already stumbled back, watching the figure lift its head up and look right at Harry's petrified green eyes.

The silver unicorn blood was still dribbling down it's chin but you couldn't tell anything at the top of the figure's face as it was overshadowed by the hood of his cloak. 

The figure, then, got to its feet and came swiftly towards Harry.

"Shit," (Y/N) knew that Harry is not in his right mind right now to pull out of his wand and defend himself and they knew that they are completely armless against Voldemort right now but the least they could do is make sure that Harry is safe.

 _Too many different things are happening since yesterday, there's no telling that Voldemort might not attack Harry_ , (Y/N) thought and pursed their lips nervously as they stood in front of Harry, acting as the Gryffindor's shield.

 _Ah, what the fuck am I doing!? Am I trying to get myself killed!?_ They panicked as their thoughts began to create a conflict against each other, either leave and go find Hagrid as fast as they could or stay and protect Harry since they can't be too sure that Voldemort wouldn't attack him.

Fang jumped in front of (Y/N), growling and barking at the cloaked figure although his voice cracked multiple times, indicating that he is somewhat scared of it but needed to stand his ground in order to protect his human best friend.

"I-I need to help (Y/N)..." Draco tried to lift his legs up but they were trembling and disabling him to stand up and walk over to the (H/C) haired Slytherin.

 _What is wrong with you!? Move!_ Draco forced and scolded himself as he shakily pulled out his wand and racked his brain, trying to think of any spells to fend the figure away.

"Harry, are you alright!?" (Y/N) exclaimed at Harry but their voice only seemed to echo on his ears as they turned their body to catch the Gryffindor in their arms. 

Harry groaned loudly before it turned into a small, loud scream, which surprised (Y/N). 

Harry couldn't help but remember the nightmare that the Mirror of Erised gave him last Christmas; the ringing screams of his parents as a bright green light flashed through his eyes and ending with a distorted, eerie cackling of someone, who Harry assumes to be is Voldemort.

The raven haired boy gasped and began to hyperventilate, trying to bring himself back to reality by clinging on to the closest person. 

"Harry, Harry, calm down. I'm here." (Y/N) shushed, grabbing both of Harry's hands which turned him to look at them with a surprised look on his face as tears were beginning to form in the corner of his eyes.

"I'm here." (Y/N) smiled gently and softly at Harry as they tightened their grip on his hands as a sign of comfort and reassurance that they are, indeed, there for him. 

It didn't take long for Harry to pull (Y/N) into a tight hug and clinging onto them as if they're the only one who can keep him out of his nightmare.

Just like the (Y/N) in his nightmare that would always be there to comfort him in the middle of it all.

(Y/N) returned the hug, placing their hand on the back of Harry's head while the other wrapped itself on his waist. 

In the midst of this, Draco finally snapped out of his panicked state and threw a spell at the cloaked figure.

"Stupefy!" Draco exclaimed, which took the cloaked figure by surprise and barely dodged it by sweeping its feet to the side to avoid it. It was then he had heard hooves coming from behind him, galloping.

Just as Draco was about to turn his head around and see who was coming, it already passed by him before he could even see a small glimpse of it. 

The galloping centaur jumped clean over Harry and (Y/N), charging at the figure with power.

The cloaked figure hissed and growled at the centaur, taking a brief look at (Y/N) and Harry for a moment before scampering away from the group. 

Draco took a few deep breaths in order to recollect himself as he stared at the white centaur that fought the cloaked figure away.

It didn't take long for him to notice that (Y/N) and Harry are hugging tightly, making him purse his lips angrily and in disbelief. The Malfoy heir gripped on to his wand tightly that he could easily snap it in half if he wanted to.

The centaur walked over to the two, waiting for them to finish their moment before talking. 

"Are you alright now, Harry?" (Y/N) asked but didn't retract themselves away from Harry just yet. 

"Yeah," The raven haired Gryffindor nodded as he buried his face on their neck before lifting his head up to look over at Draco.

The platinum blonde haired boy couldn't miss the wide smirk that was etched on Harry's face as he looked up to look at him. His half-lidded emerald green eyes almost looked toxic and glowing maliciously and eerily in the dark.

" **Thank you, (Y/N).** " Harry's voice was sickeningly sweet as he clung closer to (Y/N), letting Draco feel the peak of jealousy and anger course through his veins as he couldn't do anything but watch the two helplessly.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

After comforting Harry and meeting and introducing ourselves the (unexpectedly) handsome centaur, Firenze, we went and tried to get back to Hagrid as fast as we could without Firenze's help since there are four of us and I don't want to leave Draco or Fang all alone in the forest.

I found it more odd why Draco didn't run off and leave us. Another different thing that's happened in this world. 

Oh Salazar, I do hope I'm not messing the timeline up, or else I would be breaking my bones trying to fix it.

When I came to him, he was silent and his mind was focused somewhere else. I didn't want to trouble him so I ended up giving him a reassuring hand on his shoulder, telling him that what he did was good.

"Harry, why don't you go with Firenze?" I tell Harry, smiling at him while standing beside Draco, who still looks a bit out of it. "You do need to rest and find Hagrid more than we do. We'll be fine by walking on our own." 

"Can't you come with me? It'll be faster." Harry frowned, staring at Draco and Fang with an indescribable look. 

"I don't really want to leave either of these two and I don't think Firenze can let two people ride him so no." I laugh, pointing at Fang and Draco with my thumb while giving Harry an apologetic look.

"You really can't?" Harry asked insistedly, making me laugh once more and shake my head before apologizing to the Gryffindor. 

His frown deepened but didn't say anything as he turned around and climbed over Firenze, who lowered his front legs and stood them up once more once Harry is on his back.

"Get back safely, alright?" Harry said, making me nod in response.

"I pray that you return safely with your friend, (Y/N) Rosewood." Firenze nodded before galloping through the woods, leaving us alone in the spot where the centaur had spotted us. 

I look over at my shoulder, staring at the dead unicorn sadly before looking away and bringing my head down to Fang's head to pat it briefly. 

"Let's go - Hagrid and the others must be looking for us too."

Draco could only nod robotically, as I frown and started to walk past the thick trees and trying to find my way back out judging from how the trees look. The smaller the trees are, the closer we are to the exit.

"Hey, what's the matter?" I ask Draco, giving him a small side smile to lighten up the mood between the two of us.

"It's nothing." Draco replied, sighing in the process while my frown returned, trying to figure out what the hell is bothering this boy. 

I blink, realizing that he was helping Firenze fend off Voldemort a while ago. With a smile beginning to curl up on my lips, I bring my hand over to his slicked back hair and ruffling it, messing it up with a laugh.

Draco exclaimed, prying off my hand away from his hair. Before he could hold my hand, I already retracted it away as I grinned broadly. 

At least he's not acting all sad now.

"You were cool back there, you know? Throwing a spell at that monster even though none of us could move." I said, making him look at me with a slightly surprised look. "Give yourself some credit for not running away."

An indescribable look made its way into his face as he looked away from me while straightening his platinum blonde hair back to how it was a few seconds ago.

"That wasn't the problem." I heard Draco sigh as I quirk my eyebrow up at him, confused.

"Then what is it?" I ask.

Draco hesitated answering me for a moment as I saw him fidgeting as we continued to walk through the dark path. 

For some reason, it didn't seem as scary as it was before when we came in here.

Maybe it's because we've gotten used to the dark atmosphere that it doesn't affect us anymore and Voldemort was the scariest, by far, to encounter in this godforsaken forest.

"Argh, forget it!" Draco exclaimed, which caught me off guard as I stare at him with disbelief. 

He pointed his finger towards me, almost accusingly while he blushed heavily and looked like he was sweating nervously.

"LookIknowthatIeasilygetscaredandthatwasn'tmycoolestmomentbacktherebutIsawyoubeingsoclosetoPotterthatitmademethinkthatI'mnotdoingwellinthisfriendshipthatyoualwaystalkaboutsoaftertheyearisovercouldyoucomeandvisitmeinmyhomesowecouldbejustascloseasyouarewithPotter!?"  
  
  


I did not understand anything that just came out of Draco's mouth.

I blink twice then thrice before waving my hands around him nervously while trying my best to decipher what this boy just said to me. 

"W-Wait, slow down! I didn't understand a word that you just said!" I exclaim while Draco just panted, his chest softly heaving up and down as the blush on his cheeks refused to go away.

Draco looked defeated and hesitant for another moment until he sighed and cast his gaze somewhere else as he crossed his arms and puffed his chest out to make him look more manly.

"I want us to be a little bit closer and understand how this... friendship thing works so I want you to come and visit my home this summer." Draco said, making me look at him in both surprise and confusion since I didn't expect him to say something like that.

Draco wants me to come over to his house this summer?

I mean, I know where he lives fictionally (my research in Pottermore and Harry Potter Wiki blessed me for this moment) so it wouldn't be a problem to figure out where he lives.

I'm sure even my wizard parents would know where they live since Malfoys are famous and all that stuff.

"I don't mind but are your parents going to be fine with it?" I ask, tilting my head to the side.

"My parents? I'm sure mother won't mind a friend visiting me." He replied, "As for my father, well... maybe you can just visit me when he's off to the Ministry." 

"That would work but it's a little bit intrusive when your father doesn't want me in your home." I rub my arm from underneath the cloak that Draco let me borrow.

"Do you not want to come and visit me?" Draco asked, making me shake my head with a small pout.

"It's not that, Draco - of course, I do but it just feels a little bit weird when your dad doesn't want me, a blood traitor, in his home." Shrugging, I kick a random rock while Fang scampered towards the spot where the rock landed, making me chuckle softly.

"That doesn't matter; you're still a pureblood and part of the Sacred Twenty-Nine - I doubt my father wouldn't like you just because your family fancies muggles." Draco said as I look over to him skeptically.

Yeah, and the Weasleys are part of the Sacred Twenty-Nine, fancies muggles and Lucius, along with you, hate them so much. Who, exactly, are you trying to fool here?

I thought while rolling my eyes.

"He did say that he admires your spirit and how you stood up to him during the meeting almost blew him away. You should've seen father, (Y/N) - he was beyond surprised." Draco chuckled as we continued to walk. 

I noticed that the trees are getting smaller and smaller, indicating that we're almost to the exit.

I don't really know what happened to this meeting but all I know is that a fight broke out between us and the Malfoys. I remember Draco not wanting to associate with me or my brother when we first met. 

I wonder what happened to him now.

Am I seriously the only friend that he can share a friendship necklace with and the only friend who he can ask to come and visit him this summer?

"Alright, I'll come and visit you. I'll send you an owl two days before I visit - how does that sound?" I ask, smiling at Draco and taking this opportunity to get to know the Malfoy heir more.

"I'd like that, (Y/N)." He replied as we continued to walk through the forest. We continued to talk about how the second year is fast approaching and how nice Hogwarts really is.

While we talked, I couldn't help but stare and frown as Draco smiled and laughed while he talked to me about things he's genuinely interested in talking about.

I do hope he stays just as enthusiastic as he grows up and not let his fondness for Hogwarts diminish just because of Lucius.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

The castle wasn't too far behind as (Y/N) and Draco saw the lights from the castle looming in the distance.

Similing at each other, the two Slytherins walked hastily at the clearing where the forest ends.

As the two walked closer to the exit, the familiar figures of Hagrid, Hermione, Ron, Harry and Alem stood in the distance.

Fang barked loudly as he ran towards the gamekeeper. It didn't take everyone to twist their heads at the source of the barking, signalling that the other two are back.

"Hey," (Y/N) smiles, waving at the grpup while Hermione teared up, making her dash over to the (H/C) haired Slytherin.

In an instant, she threw herself on (Y/N), hugging her tightly for a moment before retracting herself from them with a smile.

"Godric, I thought something bad happened to you!" Hermione exclaimed while her eyes scanned (Y/N)'s body to see if they have any injuries.

They didn't have any injuries so they wouldn't need to visit Madam Pomfrey tonight but brown smudges on (Y/N)'s clothes was noticeable, especially in their white shirt.

"Geez, I'm fine, Hermione. Just a bit dirty, that's all." (Y/N) smiled and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder while flickering their eyes over to Harry, who looked at them with relieved green eyes.

He didn't share the same look as he glared at Draco, however.

"Finally, your brother started tearin' up just a while ago, wonderin' and panickin'" Hagrid pointed at Alem, who exclaimed and immediately wiped his eyes while sniffing.

"I-I was not!" Alem's voice cracked wobbled as he spoke, which earned a small chuckle from his sister/brother as they walk over to him with a smile.

Alem stared at (Y/N) approaching figure before looking away in shame and wiping a few tears that already started to cascade down to his chin.

"...I'm still angry at you." Alem mumbled but this only made (Y/N) smile wider as they pulled their brother in for a hug.

"I love you too, you idiot." The oldest twin buried their face on Alem's neck as he hesitantly returned the hug, wrapping his arms around (Y/N)'s waist.

"Thanks for calling me an idiot, you moron." Alex sniffed again before leaning away from (Y/N), smiling at them.

The Rosewood twins were silent for a moment, staring at each other until (Y/N) snickered.

"On a scale of one to ten, how much did you miss and worry about me?"

"Say that again and I'm going to put a silencing charm on you."

»»————- ♡ ————-««

As everyone went back to their respective common rooms, one boy managed to separate himself from the rest of the group without them noticing.

He walked through a different, dark corridor silently and climbed an old stone staircase that leads to somewhere quite unknown in the castle. 

Light was barely pouring in from the windows that the boy passed by, but it was enough to let him navigate through the staircase with ease. 

The boy gripped his wand as his half-lidded eyes seemingly glowed in the dark, like a monster that's been let loose in the castle and is now roaming the darkness in order to search for his next prey. 

When the boy came across a wooden door at the end of the stairway, he stared at it for a moment before pointing his wand at it, "Alohomora." 

With a soft click, the door creaked open. The boy let himself in the room and closed the door behind him, closing and trapping the dim light that resided in the room.

The room is small and is in ruins as a few cobbled stones were starting to fray and drop to the floor. This room looked like it hasn't been used in ages and it seems like no one even goes here to clean it up due to the slightly rotten stench that's wafting around the room.

The only source of light that the room has is the small square window situated at the very top of the wall and a few candles that were lit up in the corner.

"Well then," the boy began to speak and kept his eyes at the center of the room, where two students were tied and had their mouths covered with cloths. 

The two students were from Slytherin and they looked terrified yet surprised that a young boy, a first year at that, was able to corner them and throw them off guard.

"Mmf!" The first student wiggled in her seat, shaking her head in order to remove and slide the cloth down but to her dismay, her efforts seem to be futile. 

Her hair was extremely tangled and sticking out in different places as sweat almost covered her entire face whole. 

The second student didn't do anything but stare at the first year student with fear. He couldn't do anything, not even make the slightest of sound to, hopefully, let Filch or anyone know that they're inside.

"You two found it really funny to go and insult and ridicule (Y/N), didn't you?" The boy chuckled as he raised his wand and glared at the two Slytherins with contempt and glee, finding their pleading and fear-filled expression satisfying to look at.

"I'll have a good time returning the favor so suck it up and try not to get so loud, okay?" He smiled sweetly before bringing his wand down and illuminating the room with a bright red light. 

The spell that he conjured made the two students scream muffledly through the cloth that's covering their mouths.

It's a good thing that he learned the leg locker curse beforehand so his victims wouldn't able to escape the moment he set his eyes on them.

**»»————- ♡ ————-««**

_**A/N:** _

_**See, I keep my promises :'** _ _**V** _

_**Haha, I stayed up all night writing a 18k words worth of chapter. Please be proud of me and I desperately need sleep.** _

_**Anyway, the next chapter is finally the climax of the first year! AAA aah, I almost forgot that the first year is almost ending and I'm genuinely proud of myself for being able to write my way through sKREEEEEE.** _

_**I am so sorry for the delay, I do hope you can forgive me with this long ass chapter.** _

_**Draco is just straight up being a tsundere and I live to write tsundere Draco.** _

_**Too bad, he's actually a yandere :V** _

_**Anyway, please stay safe everyone and thank you for reading! Now y'all** _ _**have** _ _**to probably wait for another two weeks for me to update, I am so sorry.** _


	18. I - XVI:「The Calm Before the Storm」

**❝What do I need to do so you'll look at me,**   
**and only me?❞**

**»»————- ♡ ————-««**

Rhythmic pants escaped my seemingly dry lips as I placed my head on the table that I shared with Alem.

Sweats trickled from my forehead and everything seemed to be in a daze while the hot sun was hanging up in the sky, burning us with its fiery heat.

It's hot as hell and I wouldn't be surprised if everyone is feeling the same way since summer is fast approaching.

Alem was panting but he kept his ground and continued to study for our next exam that'll take place after lunch.

"Itsh sho howt..." I mutter as I lifted my head up from the table and raked my hair away from my face as I did so.

When my eyes scanned the room, everyone seemed to be on the verge of dying from this heat as well.

I already took off my Slytherin robe just so I would feel just a little bit refreshed because the summer breeze would pass us by almost every few minutes or so.

However, everything still felt like the entire castle is on fire and I couldn't remove my school vest either, as it's the exams and taking off the vest 'isn't allowed' during the exams.

But like, it's currently lunch time so I don't see what the big deal is.

Nonetheless, I sucked it up and only loosened my green Slytherin tie and unbuttoned the two buttons on my collar to let some air inside my body.

I almost felt like crying when I realized that I have to tighten my tie again and button my collar once the exams start again.

"Hey, Alem." I groggily grabbed my brother's attention while lazily bringing up my wand to my half empty glass of water. "Don't you feel hot? I feel like I'm boiling."

I mutter 'Glacius' underneath my breath and froze my water before bringing it up to my cheek in order to cool myself down.

Breathing out a sigh of relief, I look over at Alem, who seems to be resisting the urge to collapse on the table while visible lines of sweat trickled from his forehead.

"I'm fine." My brother's answer was short and brief but his voice cracked, making me roll my eyes and hand over my frozen water to him so he could cool off as well.

His (E/C) eyes stared at the frozen glass of water for a while before taking it from my hand and bringing it up to his forehead and to his cheek as he dropped his book on the table.

"Can you believe that the school year's almost ending?" I reminisce then panic at the thought since Erised will probably come up and kill me once I haven't done the end of my deal with them.

The fact that they haven't been visiting me for a few months now only made me more anxious than I should've been.

"Honestly, it feels like it's only been yesterday since we started here in Hogwarts." I added with a laugh while fanning myself with my hand because everything still felt like the castle is on fire.

"Yeah, although I'm quite concerned about you since you still have to solve this mystery case that you and Potter's friends have." Alem nonchalantly said before handing the frozen glass of water to me, making me take it from his hand as I look at him incredulously.

"Woah, you sound like you're fine with it now." I almost snicker until he sighed in defeat and picked his book up again.

"Well there's nothing I can do about it. As long as you're safe and sound, it wouldn't really hurt for you to try and be a hero for once, would it?" Alem shrugged but I felt like he was being somewhat aggressive with his words, especially with the hero part.

I didn't address this, however, since Alem was just being blunt with me and it's not like he's wrong about me wanting to be a hero along with Harry.

Although he probably meant that as a joke.

"I don't really think that anyone is trying to steal it but you do you, (Y/N)." He added.

I didn't do anything but scoff playfully while resting my head on the palm of my hand with the melting ice of water pressed against my cheek.

When I began to retreat back in my thoughts, I started to remember about all of the things that we did this day for the exams.

Our Charms exam wasn't too bad, except at the practical exams where Professor Flitwick called us individually to make a pineapple tap dance on his desk.

I didn't do good but I didn't do bad either.

It's just the fact that I made the pineapple break dance instead of tap dancing, and everyone had to wonder what and why the hell is the pineapple doing something like that.

The breakdancing was all I could think of when I tried to make the pineapple dance and it made me remember all of those stupid dancing memes that I would come across on the Internet while laughing at them for hours.

Speaking of memes, god, I miss sharing and looking at them.

Nonetheless, I made the pineapple dance and most of the students weren't able to do that because of their nerves or maybe because they don't remember the spell.

So maybe I think I got half a grade from that.

Professor McGonagall watched us turn a mouse into a snuffbox.

Although I am pretty immature and laugh at stupid jokes all the time, I couldn't help but snicker at the thought of us turning a mouse into a goddamn classic form of ashtray.

While I kept laughing at those stupid thoughts, I accidentally managed to turn the mouse into an ashtray that I always see when I pass through a few bars on my way home from school.

The ashtray was clear and transparent in the form of a square while the edges of it were curved, making it look like it's oblong shaped.

When I first saw it, I panicked because I transformed the mouse wrong but when I look at it again, it felt like something in it was missing.

Like, it's not even an ashtray.

It didn't take me long to realize that the only thing missing in the goddamn ashtray that I always used to see were the ashes, or the remains of the Marlboro cigarettes that they smoke on.

McGonagall had to ask me what I just turn the mouse into and I just simply replied, "It's... another form of a snuffbox." although it's not really true since there's a difference between the two.

She did end up giving me an extra point though because there were no whiskers or tails of the mouse when I turned it into an ashtray so that's good.

Though I think my grade in that exam wasn't as high as Hermione's grade because it doesn't look like a snuffbox.

Professor Snape's practical exam was... well, weird.

He kept breathing down to our necks and watched us trying to make a Forgetfulness potion.

I didn't mess things up this time in his class but I couldn't miss the hard and cold stare that he gave me as I made the potion.

Of course, I wouldn't consider it perfect since I barely remembered the ingredients and how to make it and only realized that we'll be doing the potion for the exams last night but I think it's good enough to make myself pass this class.

Alem had a bit of some trouble while making it since he's so focused on racking his brain, trying to think of how to do it rather than being focused on looking at the potion since it's probably over-stirred.

And none of us could just whisper to each other and tell them how to make it since Snape hears everything.

He ended up taking a point from a random Gryffindor for asking their fellow housemate how to make one.

In the end, I was the first to finish and gave my finished potion to Snape.

He stared at me and the potion for a while, making me feel uncomfortable and anxious at the same time since he might think that it's bad and I failed his class or something.

I was a bit surprised and very relieved when he told me to go. He didn't say anything bad or criticized it, which is why I was so relieved.

I snapped out of my thoughts when I felt Alem stand up beside me and heard him packing his stuff.

I hastily placed the now warm glass of water on the table and packed my books up as well, realizing that the next exam is about to start.

I stared at the small wrapped box inside my bag for a moment, thinking about the content inside it while sighing and remembering that I asked Wallace, our family's butler, if he could send me a syringe.

I don't even know if syringes are a thing in this year but I do remember that the first hypodermic syringe was made in around 1853 by Alexander Wood.

Speaking of Alexander Wood, when I first heard about him in my med class, I always thought that he is Oliver's great grandfather who married a witch and had Oliver's dad who then had Oliver.

Because Alexander and Oliver are both Scottish.

Wallace did manage to get me one. Easily, he added since he just needed to ask 'Miss Zoey' to get him one since she's a nurse.

Who 'Miss Zoey' is, I have no idea but thanks to her, I did get my hands on one so thank you for that, Miss.

I have no idea how this era's syringe would work but I assume that it's just the same with a couple more steps to suck and inject.

"(Y/N), hurry up!" Alem called out in an annoyed tone, making me snap my head up to meet his eyes.

I frown and pouted when I buttoned my collar and tightened my green tie before slipping into my overly large Slytherin robe.

I felt the heat seeping through my uniform and my skin once I wore the robe, making me groan and hope that this'll be finished soon so I can change into my tank top and borrow one of Alem's shorts.

Honestly, I hate going to school when everything is so goddamn hot so I need to get this over with and fast.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

As the bell's ringing sound echoed around the Great Hall, we happily lifted our heads up while looking at Professor Binns with a wide smile etched on our faces.

"Quills up and roll your parchment." Our History teacher tiredly and groggily said as we enthusiastically rolled our parchment and placed our Anti-Cheating quill on the table next to our rolled parchment.

Before Professor Binns can even say anything, we already ran out of the Great Hall, ready to taste the fresh and cool air of the summer and feel the tingly grass on our skin.

I could hear some students sighing in relief while some students were chatting and laughing happily as the final exams were finally over.

"Freedom!" I yell happily as I exit the Great Hall and jump in the air while fist bumping.

With a laugh escaping my lips, I take off my Slytherin robe and remove my school vest. I slung my uniform over to my shoulder while taking a big deep breath as the cool, fresh breeze passed us by.

"Let's go to the common room! I wanna change my clothes so badly!" I whine, pulling Alem's sleeve and almost dragging him to where the Slytherin common room is.

I heard my brother sigh in defeat for a moment as he double checked his bag to see if he forgot something in the Great Hall.

"Wait, I think my Transfiguration book isn't here..." Alem mumbled, making me roll my eyes before peeking inside his bag and pointing at the all-familiar book that my twin brother always carries around.

"I'm sure you're not _that_ stupid to actually forget and leave your favorite book somewhere else." A sigh escaped my lips, making my brother turn to look at me with a soft glare.

He didn't even manage to mutter a single word as I grabbed his wrist and pulled him towards the Slytherin common room so I can finally change my damn clothes.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

I walk out of the bathroom while ruffling my damp (H/C) hair and slinging my towel over my shoulder.

Walking over to the mirror to examine myself, a hum of satisfaction came out from underneath my breath while pushing some of my hair away from my face.

Because of the hot weather, I chose to wear a black tank top with denim shorts that goes down to my knee.

I tried to find some other shorts that would fit with my shirt but this is the only other shorts I could find in my luggage, which somewhat disappoints me.

"I don't really have a good fashion sense, do I?" I roll my eyes at myself before walking away from the mirror to see Alem combing his already neat hair.

My brother wore nothing but plain red t-shirt and the black jogging pants that he borrowed from me just a while ago.

I was actually a bit surprised that it fits him, to be honest since I've done nothing but pigging every single good food that I see in the Great Hall,

and I don't think I ever told him that those jogging pants hasn't been washed for a week but I only used it once so I think that's... alright?

Damn, my habit of re-using the same clothes that I already wore yesterday or a week ago and haven't bothered to wash it is getting into me.

"Are you sure you want to wear _that_?" I quirk my eyebrow up as Alem placed his comb back on his nightstand, "I mean, not that I don't like it but aren't you gonna be hot in that?"

"Hey, I'm not judging you when you wear sleeveless shirts so you better not judge me when I wear something like this." Alem crossed his arm as a playful smirk curled up on the corner of his seemingly pinkish lips.

"I'm not judging your choice of clothing, brother. I'm talking about how hot it must be when you wear something like that." I roll my eyes before sitting down in my bed and folding my towel in my lap.

"Unlike you, I can withstand hot temperatures and the summer heat." Alem said while flipping his imaginary long hair.

I sigh defeatedly at my brother's idiotic actions before placing my folded towel on the center of my bed while telling myself that I'll just put it away later when I come back.

"Anyway, what are you going to do this day? More mystery solving stuff?" Alem asked, making me hum for a moment and pulling out the top of my drawer.

"I guess you could say that but I need to do something first before I proceed." I retrieved a small vial from the drawer before pushing it close.

Once I held it up in front of me in order for Alem to examine it better, his (E/C) eyes lit up in both realization and confusion as he kept his steadied gaze to the vial.

"Is that a _paralyzing potion_?" Alem asked, making me snicker and snap my fingers at him.

"Bingo." I grin before placing it back inside the drawer and standing up from my bed while stretching my small arms.

"Where did you get that? You couldn't have made that potion without access to the ingredients..." My brother's words trailed off, his finger on his chin until his head jerked up and his eyes lit up again.

"Unless, you stashed away an extra when we were tasked to do the potion a few months ago." Alem said, making me nod at his conclusion while placing my hands on my hips as I grin mischievously and retract the potion back.

My eyes examined the small glass tube that held the silver colored liquid inside while thinking of how the hell am I going to make this plan work.

"Is that even legal? You're going to get in trouble for even stashing away a potion that you weren't even supposed to make twice." He said but I just shrugged and placed the potion back inside the drawer, where I retrieved it before pushing it close again.

"If you get caught." Smirking, I run my fingers across my hair before turning around to the door to leave the room.

"I'm going to Hagrid's. I'll back in a few minutes or so." I told my brother before leaving the room, closing the door behind me.

"Be careful!" I heard Alem yell out from the other side of the door.

With a gentle sigh escaping my lips, I observed the Slytherin common room from the second floor and leaning on the ledge of the wooden divider until a girl caught my attention.

Her eyes were narrowed and held a look of anger and fury that she could as well rip off someone's head out of their body with just a single look.

My eyebrow raised in confusion while my eyes drifted towards the direction where the girl was looking.

Surprisingly, she was looking at Pansy Parkinson. The dark haired Slytherin laughed along with her friends while twirling her locks with her finger.

Parkinson seemed very cheerful today, though I'm guessing it's because the final exams are finished and the school year will end tomorrow.

My thoughts about Parkinson ended when I noticed the girl lifting her wand up towards Parkinson silently.

I stiffen and pulled out my own wand from the pocket of my shorts, ready to cast a spell to stop this girl.

Look, I may dislike Parkinson but she hasn't done anything bad that could risk my life or physically harm me.

All she's ever done was giving me some bad insults that an eleven year old clearly made and that's not really... bad.

I've dealt worse.

Just as the girl was about to cast a spell as she opened her mouth to speak, I already pointed the wand at her while whispering the spell, "Petrificus Totalus."

With a small spark lighting the tip of my wand, the girl's body stiffened and her eyes widened in surprise when she realized that she couldn't move.

Her wand was still pointed towards Parkinson and the panic on her facial features became more visible as the other Slytherins started to notice that her wand is being pointed towards someone else.

I immediately pocketed my wand and leaned away from the wooden ledge, ready to walk out of the Slytherin common room as if nothing happened.

The mutterings of Slytherins filled my ears as they continued to gather around the girl while trying to figure out how to get her out of her petrified state.

The crack situated at the entrance of the common room widened and has been split to the side, letting some Slytherins enter the common room while they animatedly talked to each other.

I walk past the students and walked out of the common room with a sigh, wondering when did I ever get so soft.

Sure, I could've left that girl to deal with Parkinson and I wouldn't even be involved in it while getting to Hagrid's house in about 2 minutes.

I don't know why but it just left a bad taste in my mouth.

 _I kinda hate this feeling_ , I thought while pursing my lips in annoyance.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

Pansy couldn't help but watch her fellow housemate's petrified state with her wand pointed right towards her face.

The dark haired girl contained her shock as she regained her composure and scanned her eyes around the common room to see who had sent a paralyzing spell towards the girl.

Unfortunately, due to the crowd that's beginning to cover her area of sight around the room, she eventually gave up and instead brought her eyes back to the girl in front of her.

"That's so scary. Who would've thought that someone was planning to hex you, Pansy?" Millicent frowned while eyeing the girl with a nasty look on her face.

Pansy didn't respond to her friend's question and only kept staring at the girl with an indescribable look.

Pansy figured that she must be one of the girls who she was messing or teasing around with.

She's always been pissing people off ever since she came to Hogwarts so students, housemate or not, are bound to hold a grudge against her.

Though it's quite an insult on the girl's part as Pansy doesn't even recognize or remember her.

She is relieved that she is safe from a hex (she doesn't want her face to look ugly when Draco comes along after all) but at the same time, she didn't expect anyone to save her from the sidelines.

None of her friends even noticed the incoming spell or even reacted to it.

"Move over, move over!" Some older Slytherin students, probably around their fourth or fifth year, walked over towards the scene while pulling their wands out of their pockets.

Almost instantly, the crowd made way for the older students but didn't scatter as they wanted to watch the commotion.

"It's the last day and some people are making trouble." One of the older students clicked their tongue while examining the petrified state of their fellow underclass man.

"Ugh, let's just go, Pansy; it's starting to get a little bit hot in here." Millicent fanned herself while walking away from the crowd with her two other unnamed friends.

Pansy didn't move for a moment, recollecting her thoughts before turning around to follow Millicent.

However, her dark eyes caught a glimpse of a certain Rosewood scampering out of the common room with their lips pursed and a slightly troubled expression on their face.

Pansy stopped on her tracks and tried to follow (Y/N)'s figure from the crowd but they disappeared as soon as they were in Pansy's line of sight.

"They couldn't have..." She mumbled to herself.

She doesn't want to believe at the possibility of her rival 'protecting' her from one of the girls who surfaced undeniable hate for her.

(Y/N) was never the type to help anyone who they didn't like; Pansy was one of the people that didn't make it to (Y/N)'s friend list.

Yet there was this gut feeling that made the dark haired Slytherin think that (Y/N) was the one who 'protected' her. Their expression says it all, really.

Pansy's face was deadpan and it felt like the voices of the crowd were drowned out in her ears.

She retreated back into her own thoughts as she walked away from the crowd to meet up with Millicent and her friends.

"They couldn't have." She muttered, clearly displeased. She doesn't want to believe it but her gut wants her to.

However, she ignored her intuition and insisted that it couldn't have been the oldest Rosewood twin.

There's no way that a rival would help out a rival.

_The only thing that Pansy didn't realize was that (Y/N) never renounced them as their rival._

»»————- ♡ ————-««

"Ugh, it's so hot." I pant while shielding my eyes away from the bright rays of the sun.

The heat of the sun pierced through my skin but the constant summer breeze managed to cool me off.

Now I feel like wearing a tank top is a bad idea when the weather's this hot.

_What was I even thinking?_

Eventually, I did manage to get to Hagrid's hut and the sigh of relief that escaped my almost dry lips was unavoidable as I got some shade under the roof of Hagrid's home.

He wasn't sitting on the porch so I figured that he must be inside and Harry must've already been here.

When I finally cooled down, I knocked on the wooden door thrice and waited while fidgeting and looking around the area until the door opened.

Hagrid stood there and beamed at me as I saw the corners of his mouth curl up into a wide smile.

"'Ello, (Y/N). What brings yer here today?" He asked while making a small space for Fang to slip through.

"Hey, Fang." I laugh and get down on one knee, bringing my hand up to Fang's head to pat him for a couple of seconds before looking up to Hagrid to answer his question.

"And hello, Hagrid. I was wondering if Harry and the others already passed by here." I answered with a gentle smile.

Hagrid's eyes light up in realization and nodded while lifting his finger up. "Ah yes, they did." He said. "They came up to me askin' about-."

Suddenly, he froze and stopped. Hagrid's face paled for a moment until he shook his head and gave me a nervous smile.

"Actually, they asked abou' nothin'. _Definitely_ not abou' Fluffy an' some other things you don' need ter know." He said while fidgeting and casting his eyes away from me.

I already know that he wasn't telling the truth so I couldn't help but laugh internally.

I guess I should just play along so it wouldn't get too weird.

Besides, if I told Hagrid that I already know what they were talking about, he would be suspicious about how I just know and overhear everything even though I'm not physically there.

"Oh! Well, I wouldn't pry. I'll just go and find Harry then." I stood up and dusted off some dirt from the rear end of my shorts.

Fang whined for a moment, knowing that I was going to leave before bumping and rubbing his head on my leg.

I smiled down at the canine and brought my attention back to Hagrid.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Hagrid." I said as I turned around and waved the gamekeeper goodbye.

"Wait!" Hagrid exclaimed just as I was about to leave his hut entirely. I turned around and saw him hesitating for a moment before opening his mouth to speak.

"I accidentally told Harry how to pass through Fluffy." Hagrid shamefully said while bringing his large hand behind his neck to rub it. "An' some other things."

"O-Oh." I didn't expect him to tell me straightforwardly.

I mean, I thought he was going to keep it until Harry and the others told me.

"That's... great?" I said, unsure. However, Hagrid didn't pay any attention to my weird tone and kept his serious yet pleading look.

"(Y/N), could ye... could ye look out for 'em just in case they get in trouble?" Hagrid asked. "Yer the one who manages ter keep 'em in check and I do hope they ain't gettin' in trouble or anythin' serious."

I stared at Hagrid for a moment before nodding and smiling gently.

"Don't worry, Hagrid. You can leave it up to me to make sure that they won't get in trouble." I said, making Hagrid smile happily.

Well, now I have to make sure that Harry isn't going to get hurt by the time Voldemort and that asshole Quirrell comes to strangle him.

It's not like I wasn't going to help him in the first place but Harry's safety comes first in this.

"Well," Hagrid patted his hips briefly and gave me a small salute. "I'll see yer tomorrow, (Y/N)."

I nod once more at Hagrid and stared at his large figure entering his hut before walking away completely from his house.

With a sigh, I start to think about numerous ways about how this encounter with Voldemort would go.

I'm not even sure if the syringe and potion plan would work. I mean, Voldemort can read minds, for Merlin's sake.

He could easily tell if you're lying or not, based on what you're thinking.

That means, I need to be as smart as a Ravenclaw if I want Quirrell to take my potion-injected apple and take a bite out of it.

This honestly makes me feel like I'm the witch in Snow White but I'm technically one,

Only less creepy.

I think.

"Ugh, I need to be well-prepared or else I'm gonna die on my first year." I muttered to myself while wiping the sweat that dropped from my forehead.

I had completely forgotten about the scalding, hot weather from my deep thoughts and once I snapped back to reality, the fierce warmth of the sun hit my skin as if I was being fried alive.

"I think I'll be getting a tan before the year even ends." Another mutter escaped my lips as I continued to walk back to the castle.

As I reached the entrance hall and passed through a few hallways, my eyes drifted towards the courtyard.

I squint my eyes slightly, finding it to be quite crowded since the school year is already technically finished.

The students were either chatting with their friends while sharing merry laughs.

How could they all manage to socialize and talk about stuff with other people so easily? I couldn't even manage to hold a conversation that I initiated for more than 3 minutes.

While I was shaking my head, a voice and a masculine laughter caught my ears and made me twist my head to the source of that familiar voice.

Every sound around me faded and all I could hear and see was a certain Hufflepuff's figure as he talked to his other friends with a smile curling up at the corner of his lips.

I felt my heart skip a beat when I saw how charming and handsome Cedric really is, especially when he's laughing.

Salazar, how precious do you have to be?

As a blush began to creep up on my cheeks and my face heating up from the embarrassment of staring at a fourteen year old boy, I immediately turned my head to the side to avoid anyone catching my stares.

I'm certainly being a creep right now but I don't want anyone to know that.

I exhale, letting the color from my cheek drop and regain my normal composure so I wouldn't have to faint the moment I travel my eyes back on Cedric's form.

"(Y/N)?" I became startled at the sudden calling of my name that my shoulders jumped and a weird inhuman noise came out of my mouth as I turned around to face the person that called my name.

"O-Oh, Neville..." I let out a sigh of relief and my shoulders loosened, furthering the relieved expression that I have right now.

If it was Alem, Draco or any of the golden trio, I would have to spend the next 2 hours persuading them that I definitely don't have a crush on a certain Hufflepuff boy while being teased endlessly.

I'm sure Neville wouldn't be the type of person to pry and ask something like that.

"Are you alright? Your face is red." Neville asked out of worry. I smile and nod softly while appreciating his kindness.

He's always been such a worrywart though Neville is often selfless.

"I'm fine, Neville. Thank you for worrying about me." I say, making the Gryffindor smile nervously while handing me one piece of Chocoball candy.

"J-Just in case you feel bad or anything," Neville said. "I heard from Harry that you like Chocoballs..."

He gulped again before continuing, "and this is the least I can do a-after helping me and a-all that..."

I take the Chocoball in a daze, feeling a bit confused by Neville's words.

While I find his actions adorable, my mind wandered towards the part where he said that he heard from Harry that I like Chocoballs.

Not that I don't; I actually like a lot of wizard candies and Chocoballs are one of them. But, that's just odd.

Then again, it's maybe because I gorged most of the Chocoballs in the library the other day that made Harry think that I like them so I didn't think much about it any further.

"You don't actually need to do anything, you know?" I chuckle, taking the Chocoball nonetheless because it'd be rude to refuse Neville's offer. "I was doing it because it was the right thing to do, not because I want to be paid back."

"I...I just want to do it." Neville said after a small moment of silence from the two of us.

I smile and pat his shoulder, pocketing the Chocoball in my pocket as I did so.

"Well, if you insist." I said. "Thank you."

Neville nods while smiling nervously, feeling a little bit confident that I thanked him. Judging from the way his eyes lit up.

"Y-You're welcome!" The Gryffindor says, staring right back at me with those happy brown eyes.

 _Maybe things wouldn't go as bad as I expect it to go_ , I thought positively to myself.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

Harry stood in the distance, specifically, behind a pillar. One sane person would find his behavior weird and creepy for peeking behind a pillar, but to him, he finds this normal.

Well, as long as he manages to get (Y/N) in his field of vision.

While Ron and Hermione were off doing their own things in the common room, Harry took this opportunity to find (Y/N) and tell them about their plans for tonight,

The four of them will go to the trapdoor to stop Snape, the accused professor that the Gryffindors deemed as guilty for trying to steal the stone.

Once Harry found them, however, he narrowed his eyes as he noticed the chubby boy that was talking to (Y/N).

He did take his time to find (Y/N)'s casual clothes to be quite adorable

Normally, Harry would just think that the two are just talking to each other because they're friends and nothing more.

He wouldn't need to act like a creep if it wasn't for something that Neville did,

Giving them a piece of candy that (Y/N) surely liked.

Now, that might seem a petty reason for Harry to be angry and stalk them from behind a pillar, but you have to understand that Harry is a jealous prick.

He's never had the luxury to get anything that he wanted for 11 years and was always tormented by his so-called family.

After falling in 'love' with (Y/N), he has to make sure that no one will get the chance to even take them. He wouldn't share, to say the least.

Harry recalled that Neville was in the room when he was listing out the candies that (Y/N) liked in his notebook,

Out loud.

He didn't think too much about it since Neville probably won't even do anything major with that information but here we are, the Gryffindor is giving them a piece of candy that (Y/N) liked based on the information that Harry got.

The green-eyed boy gritted his teeth and watched as Neville and (Y/N) waved each other goodbye.

He should be the one who gives (Y/N) all the things that they like, just to show them that he isn't just someone who sleeps underneath a cupboard and is capable of loving someone fully.

Harry would even empty his parents' Gringotts vault if it meant that he can get them anything that they wanted. However, he shook the thoughts away as (Y/N) doesn't like getting gifts a lot.

Why they don't, is something that Harry didn't understand.

Then again, Harry doesn't know everything about (Y/N) and their past with Alem.

Harry's eyes followed Neville's figure, the chubby Gryffindor walking off timidly while fidgeting in every step.

He clicked his tongue and leaned on the pillar while crossing his arms, thinking of some ways to get a certain message across Neville's head.

This isn't the first time that Neville and (Y/N) talked. Harry remembered that Neville said something about them saving him from Draco and his goons in the library a few months ago.

The rose sessile on Neville's head was odd but it was enough for Harry to know that something must've happened between the two.

Harry groaned, unable to think of anything.

Creating plans is not Harry's best asset - he would often just recklessly go with the flow while thinking of things in the middle of it.

Just as the boy was about to give up, a ribbit interrupted his train of thoughts. He looked down and saw a familiar green toad on his feet.

The toad looked up to him with those large yellow-ish eyes and from that, Harry immediately recognized who the toad is.

Suddenly, he had an idea as he picked up the toad with his hands.

A smile creeped up on the boy's lips as he stared at Neville's toad, Trevor.

**"Why don't we surprise Neville, hm?"**

»»————- ♡ ————-««

It was currently 15:39 (3 PM), and (Y/N) sat alone in the girl's lavatory.

They brought out the syringe that Wallace gave them this morning, a fresh red apple and the paralyzing potion that they stashed away for a month from their bag.

They contemplated in the last minute while wondering if this plan will even work. The Slytherin crossed their arms and grumbled.

"Oh lookie - a troubled first year." A misty female voice snapped (Y/N) out of their thoughts and looked up to see a floating white figure staring down at them with the smallest of smiles that one could ever give.

"Aren't you one of the Rosewood twins?" Moaning Myrtle asked, tilting her head to the side. "I'm certain that I saw you here a long while ago with your weeping friend."

Suddenly, Myrtle puts up a bitter sneer at the thought of someone, other than her, having friends since she had none when she was alive.

"It must be nice to have a friend, hm? Come to rub it in my face?" As Myrtle began to ramble, (Y/N) puts up a confused look while raising her hands up in defense.

"Woah, calm down. I've no intention to do something like that to you, or any other people." They sighed while picking up the potion and pulling the cork out of the mouth of the container.

"And I'm supposed to believe you?" She asked, but her bitter tone loosened.

"I'm not saying that you should. Go with whatever makes you comfortable or whatever makes you want to hate me." (Y/N) shrugged and picked up the syringe, observing it to see how it would work and thinking that it might be different from the modern syringe that (Y/N) knows.

Myrtle stared at the Slytherin for a moment and then grumbled in annoyance.

"You are an odd first year." She said, after a moment of silence.

"I'll take that as a compliment." (Y/N) replied while sucking the contents of the potion into the syringe.

The two shared no words to each other until (Y/N) brought the syringe towards the side of the apple with a shaky sigh.

"If you're going to fool people into eating a poisonous apple, you shouldn't leave any traces that the apple was punctured." Myrtle sneered, and stopping (Y/N) from proceeding their actions any further.

While they were being confused by Myrtle's words, the ghost grumbled and instructed the Slytherin to flip the apple upside-down. (Y/N) obliged, still confused.

It wasn't until Myrtle aggressively pointed at the dark pit of the apple's underside that (Y/N) finally understood what she meant.

The Slytherin carefully pointed the syringe at the center of the apple's dark pit and punctured it, pushing the contents down to the apple with pursed lips.

Once the syringe was emptied, (Y/N) sighed as if something has been lifted off of their shoulders.

They, then, turned to look at Myrtle with a small appreciative smile while putting the syringe down to the dirty floor of the lavatory.

"Um... thanks." They said, making Myrtle roll her eyes in annoyance but felt a twinge of happiness as she was being thanked at.

It's not often that Myrtle gets a simple thank you from other people so she was a little bit happy, to say the least.

"What are you even doing that for?" The ghost asked and watched (Y/N) take out a small cloth from their bag and wipe the the syringe and the potion container. "You're going to get in trouble once teachers find out."

"Good thing I'm not dumb enough to let other people find out." They said, nodding and smirking at Myrtle. "and I'm only doing this because it makes things easier."

Unable to comprehend (Y/N)'s plans and thought, Myrtle didn't push her questions any further and instead, flew up to her bathroom stall.

"If McGonagall ever finds out about this and you end up dying by her fury and rage, you're free to share my stall." Myrtle scoffed and flew down to her toilet, not wanting to converse with (Y/N) anymore.

"Gee, thanks, Myrtle." The Slytherin scoffed playfully and placed each item back in their bag.

As they did so, they hum a Japanese song that they liked back when they were in the real world.

_Yume to Hazakura_

The hum soon turned into soft singing, making Myrtle's ears perk up in interest.

Nothing in the lavatory could be heard except (Y/N) singing softly as they arranged their things into their bag.

"Where have you heard that song?" Myrtle flew out of her stall while giving (Y/N) a confused look. 

The Slytherin stopped singing and blinked twice before opening their mouth to reply.

"I-uh... I just know it." They stuttered, scratching the back of their head awkwardly.

Myrtle squinted her eyes before floating closer towards (Y/N).

"How strange; I could've sworn I heard someone sing that song before." The female ghost's misty and breathy voice came back, furthering the mysterious and curious atmosphere that started to elevate around the room.

"A friend. A friend that I've known for a _very_ long time." Myrtle added with a saddened look on her face as she tried to remember that very friend who sang the same song that (Y/N) did.

However, whenever Myrtle does, her memories would get foggier and blurry.

It's almost as if her own mind doesn't want her to remember.

Meanwhile, (Y/N) found Myrtle's words odd. The song that they were singing wasn't made in this year nor do they know other students who know this song.

They were unable to wrap their head around it and how it was possible for Myrtle to have someone hear the song before when the song wasn't made in this time.

"Who is this friend?" (Y/N) asked, hoping to get more information from Myrtle.

However, her sneer returned and stared at the Slytherin's face for a moment before turning around with her pigtails following in suit.

"That's none of your business. Now go away!" She exclaimed, making (Y/N) flinch back slightly but obliged nonetheless.

They assumed that it must be some memory that Myrtle didn't want to remember.

(Y/N) walked out of the lavatory, their bag slung over their shoulder. Before they could fully walk out, they peek out of their shoulder to look back at Myrtle but she was nowhere to be seen, making (Y/N) assume that she returned back to her stall.

(Y/N) blinked in suspicion once more before walking back to the Slytherin common room.

As the Slytherin walked out of the bathroom, Myrtle sat on her toilet.

She hugged her knees and sighed, arranging her glasses and recalled (Y/N)'s curious face just a moment ago.

Myrtle, then, sighed once more and remembered one small detail about her 'friend';

They were a Slytherin with an oddly-oversized robe,

and for some reason,

their eyes were **sad** and **tired** ; almost as if they haven't been sleeping in **weeks**.

»»————- ♡ ————-««

I walk towards the Slytherin common room with my bag slung over my shoulder.

I pass through a few students along the way and was aware of where I'm going while I began to question Myrtle's knowledge of the song and how did someone, in the same year when Myrtle attended Hogwarts, knew about it.

It's so weird.

Did someone do the same thing that I'm doing right now but in 1943?

During Tom Riddle's time?

But, it still doesn't make any sense; Myrtle never had a friend who sang her songs back then.

As far as I know, she has always been a loner and is always being picked on.

Even if I give her the benefit of the doubt, her friend couldn't possibly know the song that I sang because it wasn't made that time.

I sigh and shake my head, mumbling the password as I stood in front of the Slytherin common room entrance.

The crack widened, letting me enter and walk hastily towards my room to think and get ready for tonight.

That reminds me - Harry or any of the trio hadn't said anything to me about us going to the trapdoor tonight.

I wasn't informed yet which is weird.

I immediately shake the thought away since I'm sure we'll still be able to talk to each other during dinner in the Great Hall.

I climb the stairs and approached my room, placing my hand on the doorknob and twisting it.

I push the door open and flickered my eyes over towards the only person in the room.

I blink in confusion and loosened my grip on the doorknob while taking a cautious step forward.

"Draco?" I watch as Draco hastily dropped the Slytherin blazer on my bed. "What were you doing with my blazer?"

My eyes trailed towards my bed and noticed some of my unwashed clothes sprawled all over.

"And a few other things, I see." I added, closing the door and shooting the platinum blonde haired boy a skeptical look.

"L-Look, you've got it wrong." He stuttered, making me quirk my eyebrow even higher. "I was..."

Draco's eyes flickered over towards my bed, that's filled with all of my unwashed clothes, and searched around before grabbing a random candy wrapper that I kept in one of my pockets in my unwashed jogging pants.

"I was just taking out all of the..." Draco squinted his eyes over to the candy wrapper in his fingers before turning his attention towards me again, "garbage in your clothes."

"...right. Are you taking out garbage from my newly washed blazer too?" I tilt my head to the side while leaning over towards the blazer that he dropped in my bed.

The platinum blonde haired boy became flustered and crumpled the wrapper under his fist.

"T-That's..." He stuttered again and looked away from me out of embarrassment.

I roll my eyes then slipped the slings of my bag out of my shoulder before throwing it on the bed carelessly.

Sighing, I rub the bridge of my nose with my hand and placed the other on my hip.

It wasn't until I spoke up to figure out what the hell Draco was doing.

"Look, what you were doing was just... a bit creepy." I make hand movements to emphasize my words. "If you're going to try and lie to me about what you were doing to my clothes and got caught red-handed, the least you can do is tell me what you were really doing, yeah?"

The Malfoy heir didn't say anything but I could tell that he looked both guilty and embarrassed.

I was about to open my mouth again to speak until my eyes caught a glimmer in his neck.

_It was the other pair of the necklace that he owned._

I stare at it for a moment until sighing and pushing my hair back with my fingers.

"In any case, you didn't seem to be doing anything wrong like, burning my clothes or something. So, I'll let you off but I'm still creeped out about it." As those words left my mouth, Draco's face lit up.

"R-really?" He gulped but I could see the corner of his lips cracking into a small smile.

He almost looks too relieved and happy to be let off without any trouble.

"Just... don't do it again." I said and walked over to my nightstand. "And put all my clothes back to where you got them. Don't lump my washed blazer with the dirty ones, though."

I look over to Draco, who looked a bit displeased that I told him to put all my clothes back.

I was not phased by this, however, as I just shrugged and pulled one drawer open.

"You were the one who took them out - at least put them back after." I could feel him rolling his eyes behind me but I did hear shuffling in my bed so I assumed that he did, at least, put my clothes back.

I sigh and rummage through my drawer for a moment to look for a spare parchment but I couldn't find any.

I turn around and see that my bed was clean again - no clothes were sprawled around anymore.

Though, I still felt that something was missing. Something I knew I placed in the bed before I left the room and the common room.

I stare at the empty center of the bed for a moment before flicking my eyes over to Draco, who is now yawning and walking over to the bathroom with tired silver eyes.

"Draco," I called out to the Malfoy, making him stop in his tracks and turn to look at me with a curious look on his face.

"Hm?" He hummed.

"You didn't see a folded towel on my bed when you came in here, did you?" I ask.

Draco tilted his head to the side and cocked his head upwards slightly as if he was thinking back to the moment when he had entered our room a few minutes or hours ago.

"I didn't." He turned to look at me. "Your messy bed didn't have anything on it except sprawled out pillows."

I roll my eyes at his statement but dismissed him with a nod and a short 'okay' as he turned around and continued to walk his way to the bathroom.

"Maybe Alem put it away after I left?" I started to think. "He was still here when I left the room, after all. Maybe I should ask him that later."

I mumble and start to open my bag and check all the things that I need for tonight. I'm pretty sure that I haven't missed anything.

All that's left is Harry to tell me that we are going to the trapdoor tonight and end this so-called mystery once and for all.

**»»————- ♡ ————-««**

**A/N:**

**no I'm not dead but it really feels like I am, doesn't it?**

**I don't really have anything else to say except take this chapter as a small apology for not updating for almost 3 months straight????**

**I mean, it's not enough to cover all of my missing days but eh, I dunno.**

**Also, I've been watching Haikyuu and The Umbrella Academy and I kinda wanna make a fanfic about them but I need to restrain myself because I already have this and Limerence to think about-**

**I've been re-reading this story for quite a while just to check some mistakes and refresh my memory in case I forget some things that I need to explain in the future and my god, I didn't realize how many mistakes there are in this story like wtf they're littered everywhere.**

**Don't be shy to leave some comments of how I can improve the story. I'm open for criticisms and please tell me if you like how the story's going so far (even though I have a shitty upload schedule) 'cause they encourage me lol**

**Speaking of comments, I've been seeing some ppl who are re-reading the story while waiting for me to update and lemme tell you that I am both flattered and ashamed because, 1. People actually re-read this story? Nani- and 2. I'm making you guys wait for WAY TOO LONG just for a single chapter**

**I love y'all btw and honestly thank you for reading the book! I appreciate your comments!**

**We also reached 1k votes and 37k reads! Like, holy crap I didn't expect to have a lot of readers when I first started out. I thought no one actually read Yandere Harry Potter books, much less THIS one.**

**Thank you very much though! Let's all keep growing and hopefully my writing 'skills' will grow as well :V**

**Anyway, I'll be back to update Limerence again because my god, it's been so long since I've updated that book. Go check it out if you haven't btw, it's a Yandere todobakudeku book (or not if you're not into that)**


	19. I - XVII:「Into the Trapdoor of Tests」

❝ **I'm addicted to the feeling of having every single stroke of your fingertips brush through my skin** **❞**

**»»----- ♡ -----««**

_"Mama, mama!" (Y/N) ran up to their (H/C) haired mother with a huge smile on their face._

_The floorboards creaked at every thudding noises that (Y/N)'s small feet made, making the mother frown and look down at her child._

_"(Y/N), don't run." She scolded with a sigh._

_(Y/N) could only giggle while holding up a beautiful lily that she managed to pick up as she was playing in the seemingly gloomy and dead front yard of their rundown house._

_"Look, I found this! I thought it might cheer you up!" The (H/C) haired child grinned happily._

_Their right cheek was smudged with dirt and their hands were almost dusty and brown._

_Their clothes weren't looking so clean either; some patches of their smudged red shirt were replaced with old cloths that the family could find and their cartoonish designed shorts were starting to rip apart from their seams. They were walking around barefoot as well._

_The mother stared at the lily for a moment but then widened her eyes at the realization that her child had gone outside to play without_ **_her_ ** _knowing that they were outside._

_Her vision at the lily started to spiral and she didn't even notice that her breathing was starting to get erratic and unusual._

_"...Mama?" (Y/N) mumbled worryingly, bringing the flower down as it seemed to upset their mother._

_Before the child could even react, the mother began to grab (Y/N)'s small shoulders and began to shake them._

_"_ _**Why** _ _did you go outside without_ _**my** _ _permission!? You_ _**know** _ _that it's dangerous outside! If your_ _**father** _ _knew that you were outside_ _**alone** _ _, who_ _**knows** _ _what that man could do to you!? You_ _**cannot** _ _leave this house_ _**unless** _ _I'm with you at all times, understand!?" She began to rant, almost leaving her out of breath due to her scream that echoed the house._

_(Y/N) stared up at their mother with a horrified look on their face. They began to turn pale, scared of what their mother could do next after screaming and upsetting her for going outside without her permission._

_Of course, (Y/N) meant well and they were only trying to cheer her up as she was always stressed for having to deal with her husband's behavior, but the mother was paranoid as she couldn't deal with having her only child to leave her alone._

_As she began to calm down and her breathing returned back to normal, she took a glimpse down at (Y/N)'s face and her lips slightly parted in surprise for what she has done._

_(Y/N) was on the verge of crying as their eyes were starting to well up in tears. The lily that was on their hand was clutched tightly and the stem seemed to snap under their grip._

_It looked dead._

_"I-I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." (Y/N) hiccuped and started to wipe their tears, wanting to not show any weakness towards their own mother._

_The (H/C) haired woman stared down with her softened gaze before smiling lovingly and placing her hand on her child's head, pulling them closer to her._

_"Shh shh... Don't worry, sweetie." She whispered and chuckled softly. "_ _**Stay here** _ _with me, (Y/N). Don't_ _**ever** _ _leave me alone. You_ _**love** _ _me, don't you?" The woman hugged them tighter as a slightly crazed look invaded her eyes and a wide smile that almost made her look eerie and insane._

_"_ _**Children who love their mothers won't leave them, right?** _ _" The woman asked, making (Y/N) look up to their mother with their quivering lip, and glossy tear-filled eyes._

_The young child stared at their mother's features for a moment, and letting her almost empty yet crazed look on her face, sink in their mind._

_To (Y/N), they only saw their mother as if she had feared for their safety. She was only concerned and didn't want them to get hurt._

_Even if the crazed look made them feel unsettled, they composed themselves and had to remember this;_

_This is their mother._

_The same woman who gave birth to them, the same woman who tried to bring them joy and live a happy life despite their father ruining their lives at every second he 'bonds' with them._

_With little hesitation, (Y/N) nodded and buried their face closer to their mother's chest._

_They sigh in satisfaction at the warmth and comfort that she radiated from her body, almost making (Y/N) fall asleep in her arms._

_"Yes, mama." Those small understanding words were enough to make the woman smile gleefully as she started to wonder;_

_**Where the hell did this family go horribly wrong?** _

»»----- ♡ -----««

Nighttime was fast approaching and before we could even realize that it's already time for dinner, Snape already informed us as he peeked inside our room with his usual cold gaze.

Alem was just reading the book that I got him this Christmas and he was startled to see Snape on the doorway while he was sprawled on the bed comfortably.

Alem bashfully straightened himself while I snickered on my bed, resisting the urge to laugh and tease my brother of how embarrassing it must've been.

I immediately stopped when he shot me a death glare though.

Draco, Crabbe and Goyle were talking about stuff that don't really interest me, like how they were going to spend the rest of their summer.

Draco mentioned that I was going to visit them at one point to the two dinguses but I didn't bother to pipe in on their conversation as there's really no use for me to do so.

As for me, I was bored out of my mind and pressed my feet on the headboard of my bed while waving my wand around, letting my signature red quill float around me like water flowing gently through the stream.

"Tonight is your final night in the castle." Snape tiredly stated while eyeing me with an indescribable look. "Every student is required to go to the Great Hall for their last dinner."

The Potions master brought his attention on me, making me flinch and sit up straight.

"And Miss/Mr Rosewood, I expect you to look and act your..." His face scrunched up at the sight of my slightly messy hair and disheveled casual clothes. " _...best._ "

I purse my lips and nodded in embarrassment while mumbling a soft 'yes, professor.'

Snape grunts but said nothing as he walked out of the room, closing the door in the process.

When the Potions master was gone, I could hear Alem chuckling devilishly from his bed, making me turn my head towards my brother with a sneer.

He stopped and only grinned, giving me a look that says, 'sorry, sorry' in a playful manner.

"I don't see what's the problem with your appearance, (Y/N)." Draco piped in, making me place my attention on him as he stood up from his bed. "You look great, nonetheless."

A sigh escaped my lips as I rake my fingers and push my hair back. I send Draco a small smile, silently appreciating his words.

"Thanks, Draco. But, you honestly can't deny that I still look pretty bad." I sigh again

"I'm like a hobo."

"Ho...bo?" The Malfoy heir repeated my words, almost as if it's the complicated thing that he's ever heard from me. I shake my head to dismiss the topic as I stand up from my bed.

"Do we still need to use our uniforms?" I ask while pulling my drawer open, and retrieving a comb.

"I believe so." I heard Draco say and can practically feel his stare on me.

I start to comb through my hair and made sure that no strands were tangled as I did so.

I ignored the platinum blonde haired boy's stare as I walk up to Alem's bed to tell him to get up.

"Get up, brother. We need to go to the Great Hall." I said as my brother groaned while dragging himself out of his bed, placing The Neverland's Promise in his nightstand.

"I don't really see the point of all of us going to eat our final dinner in the castle since we'll technically still be classmates by next year." He stated while taking my comb from my hands and using it to comb through his hair.

"Well, it's the thought that counts. I mean, some of us will surely miss each other during summer." I shrug and laid myself on Alem's bed, grabbing one of his pillows and hugging it tightly.

"I guess that's true. But, I still think that it's a bit pointless." My brother dragged his legs over to the neatly hung Slytherin uniform and robe, on the wall next to his bed.

I didn't reply to him and only watched him grab the uniform and robe.

"And _you_ should get up from _my_ bed, (Y/N). Your stinking smell is gonna infect my pillows and my bed sheet." He scoffed as I practically jumped out of his bed while blushing profusely, finding his words to be offensive.

"Hey, I don't stink!" I exclaimed while watching Alem snicker and enter the bathroom without saying anything.

Pouting, I walk over to my side of the bed and grabbed my disheveled Slytherin robe and uniform that was messily folded and placed on the wooden trunk box at the foot of my bed.

"Geez, stupid Alem." I mutter in between my breaths and stopped to wonder if I really do smell.

I mean, I did sweat a lot this afternoon because of the intense heat.

Before my nervousness could get to me, I flicked my eyes over to my Slytherin robe in my arms and noticed that it was already touching the floor so I clicked my tongue and pulled the loose fabric up.

"And stupid oversized Slytherin robe." I mutter, but this time, loudly. With an annoyed huff escaping my lips, I stare at my robe for a while before groaning.

"I seriously need to get my robe checked next year!" I exclaim. "Stupid fucking-"

I stop myself before I go too far with my cursing, since I realized that Draco and the two dung heads are still in the room.

I turn my head to look at the three to see if they heard me swearing, but it seems like they weren't paying attention on me so I silently sigh in relief.

As I sat on my bed, my mind starts to go in auto pilot mode while waiting for Alem to finish dressing up.

»»----- ♡ -----««

When everyone was already in their uniforms and wore their Slytherin robe, we all went out of our room and out of the Slytherin common room, while chatting to each other and talking about how it's finally our last days as first years in Hogwarts.

Crabbe and Goyle weren't participating much in the conversation, and kept throwing me looks of contempt.

I didn't understand why they're annoyed yet somewhat afraid of me, but I'm guessing that it's because of the library incident.

And I particularly don't care if they don't want to talk to me after that.

My attention is divided to both Draco and Alem, since those two aren't really talking to each other. I didn't question much or complain about it since I know that those two aren't in good terms since day one.

So I'm acting as a mediator to these two.

"Ah, (Y/N)." Draco said, making me turn my attention towards him with a hum.

"Hm?"

"You told me that you are going to visit my home this summer, right?" That question was enough to make me gulp and flinch, since Alem is technically beside me and I can practically feel him staring at the back of my head.

"I... Uh, yes." I stuttered, adding a nervous chuckle at the end of my sentence.

"I asked my mother if it's alright with her yesterday, and she told me that she is looking forward to meet you once more." The oblivious Malfoy heir smiled while I was just trying to ignore Alem's deathly aura beside me.

I could only nod and laugh nervously at his words until I froze and became confused.

"Couldn't you have just told her that a few days before I visit? Why tell her now?" I asked.

"Well," Draco's pale cheeks began to turn into pink as he looked away from me out of embarrassment. "I-It's not like I'm looking forward to see you at the mansion during summer...!" 

_Such a tsundere_ , I thought while slightly finding Draco's action to be adorable.

He's such an innocent eleven year old child who doesn't really have real friends to turn to.

"Ehem." Alem's rough and stern cough made me flinch again and divert my attention away from Draco. I sweat-dropped as soon as I saw Alem's narrowed and glinting (E/C) eyes.

It almost felt like he was shooting daggers through his glare, that if looks could kill, I would most likely be dead by now.

"Is there something that I'm missing, my dear sister/brother?" Alem asked and I fumbled around for a moment before chuckling nervously to ease some tension from my body.

"We'll talk about it tomorrow morning..." I dismissed the topic but my brother still kept throwing death glares at me, making me feel uncomfortable since I could feel his anger and annoyance radiating from his body.

We continued to walk to the Great Hall, but this time, everyone was silent.

No one was talking and I thought that this is much worse than having Draco and Alem have a glare showdown and Alem radiating his anger aura on me.

At least, it made me feel like everyone is actually interacting or something.

The silence in the group makes everything so awkward and makes me cringe internally.

How can a simple thing like this make me want to jump out of the nearest window and hope to disappear from this world?

As soon as we arrived at the Great Hall, and before I can even take in the sweet smell of meat and other delicacies that was present in each table, I was suddenly confronted by a certain redhead with a frantic look on his face.

"(Y/N), we've been looking for you _everywhere!_ " Ron emphasized the word 'everywhere' as his wide blue eyes settled into my surprised look.

Eventually, his eyes flickered over to the three other Slytherins beside me and his surprised face fell as fast as he confronted me just a few seconds ago.

"Uh..." Ron stepped away from me while scratching the back of his head. "Could you come down to the Gryffindor table? We need to discuss something _very_ important." He asked while observing Draco and the two other dung heads with a subtle furious look.

"Loud as ever, Weasley." Draco piped in on the conversation, which I didn't really expect. "One second after we step foot in the Great Hall, and you're already starting to bark like a panicked pathetic dog."

Ron's face started to become red due to anger as he takes one step closer while his fists start to tighten. He starts to take a step forward, and looks like he's about to punch him.

"I swear to god, if y'all are going to start a fight here, I am going to drill your goddamn heads through that thick ass wall." My angry voice was enough to make Ron stop on his tracks and make Draco shut his mouth up.

"What does ass mean?" I heard Goyle ask, probably to Crabbe.

"I don't know. Maybe it's an abbreviation for something." Crabbe responded.

 _Oh, these poor innocent dung heads_ , I thought before sighing and turning my attention to Alem.

"I'm going over to the Gryffindor table." I told my brother briefly. He stared at me for a moment, until he nodded. I acknowledge his permission to let me go to the Gryffindor table, and then turned towards Draco.

I couldn't say anything to him and instead, I sighed and gave him a "this is why you don't have any friends" look.

He obviously caught the message since he frowned and basically threw Ron a nasty glare, for whatever dumb reason I could possibly think of.

I sigh again and walked over to Ron, basically taking him over by his hand to drag him over to the Gryffindor table before things escalate any further between the two.

»»----- ♡ -----««

The three Slytherins watched as (Y/N) walked over to the Gryffindor table, while dragging Ron with them.

Draco pouted, feeling guilty that he's making the Rosewood twin angry again because of his dislike for Ron, and the Weasley family in general.

"Good job, gel kid." Alem nudged Draco harshly before walking over to the Slytherin table, holding an annoyed look for the platinum blonde haired boy.

Draco said nothing as he rubbed his arm and followed the other Rosewood twin to the Slytherin table begrudgingly.

Crabbe and Goyle shared worried looks, since an angry Alem and Draco isn't exactly the best combination.

Though the two boys aren't exactly close to the Rosewood twins, they know that; when Alem gets angry or stern, it's _not_ a good idea to provoke him any further.

The stern tone when Alem protected (Y/N) during Quirrell's reflex test and the news that Alem had managed to bring down a mountain troll this Halloween by himself, was enough to make Crabbe and Goyle know this.

Since Draco is known to be provocative and has a loud mouth, it wouldn't be long until the Slytherin table catches on fire due to these two's intense anger.

"You're not expecting _me_ to apologize for acting like that, are you?" Draco scoffed before continuing as he catches a glimpse of Alem muttering something underneath his breath. "I was telling the truth; Weasley was noisy."

Alem took a deep breath through his nose and calmed himself down before slapping him across the Great Hall.

 _Calm yourself, Alem; a moron who doesn't have a brain shouldn't be worth giving your energy to_ , the (H/C) haired boy thought as he rubbed the sides of his head while scrunching up his face to make it look like he's in absolute pain.

"Okay, gel kid, look-" Alem started until he was interrupted.

"My name is Malfoy-" Draco corrected.

"...I'm not expecting you to apologize, not at all." Alem interrupted him back and basically ignored his correction, giving the platinum blonde haired boy a bitter and resentful smile that almost made the three Slytherins in front of him uncomfortable.

"I'm just expecting you to act a _little_ bit more mature and not throw insults around like it's confetti whenever Weasley or Potter or Granger is around." Alem widens his smile as he takes a seat, making himself comfortable.

"I'm expecting _you_ , a member of the Sacred Twenty-Nine, and is part of a family that is _known_ to be prestigious and in nobility, to have a little bit of _decency_." At this point, the (H/C) haired boy is just seething through his teeth and is barely keeping his annoyance.

"This 'decency' that you speak of, Rosewood, exists in me." The Malfoy heir spoke almost too quickly. "There are just some people who don't deserve to have that privilege."

"So, your decency exists but apparently, your maturity doesn't." Alem scoffed as he took some fried chicken and placed it on his plate. "Can't say I'm surprised, though."

Draco gritted his teeth but calmed himself down from bashing Alem's head through his plate. He needs to remember that this is (Y/N)'s twin brother that we're talking about.

The brother hates Draco, that he'd be willing to curse him if it was allowed to curse anyone here in Hogwarts. There was just no way for Alem to treat Draco with a little bit of kindness.

Not after what the Malfoy family has done.

"Blood traitor..." Draco mumbled as he took a seat as well, but it was loud enough for Alem to hear.

The Rosewood turned his head towards the Malfoy, his eyes glinting and narrowing in anger.

Draco gulped, almost visibly. He could definitely see (Y/N) in those angry eyes of his, and the thought of (Y/N) being angry at Draco again, feared him so much that he'd most likely die if they do it again.

"Well _excuse me_ for not being a stuck up daddy's boy, who spits on anyone that isn't a pureblood or doesn't share the same views as you do!" Alem exclaimed, gaining the attention of a few Slytherin students who were chatting and minding their own business.

Blaise Zabini was already watching the two a minute ago, and while he doesn't agree with Alem, as he is strongly against muggleborns attending Hogwarts, he's still interested on how this argument will turn out.

The calm-headed Alem loosing his cool is something that Blaise didn't expect to see so soon.

"How interesting; a blood traitor and a pureblood prince are having a heated argument." Blaise rested his head on the palm of his hand, observing the two with an amused smirk on his lips.

"Really? I don't think it's that interesting since it's just two children meddling over things that shouldn't be meddled about." Adrian Pucey, the Slytherin team's third year chaser, responded to Blaise's words while stuffing a muffin on his mouth.

Blaise turned his eyes over to Adrian, with an eyebrow raised. He stared as Adrian chewed and gulped his food down.

The chaser smirks at the two first years and tried to hold his laughter, bringing his hand up to his mouth to stifle his upcoming laughs.

" **It's just unbelievably stupid.** " Adrian added, making Blaise give him a strange look but he also somewhat agreed with him.

It is stupid.

"You know, I was right about this whole dinner thing being pointless." Alem stood up, glaring at Draco for a short while and glaring at the students who were beginning to gossip and watching them with an amused look on their faces.

"My appetite has been completely ruined." The Rosewood twin said before walking out of the Great Hall angrily.

He was just one step away from exploding and releasing all of his pent up anger towards the Malfoy, but he can't do that.

He won't be as low as the Malfoys to do that.

»»----- ♡ -----««

When I arrived at the Gryffindor table, Harry greeted me almost immediately. He was beaming so brightly, that it was starting to become so weird.

It's not everyday that I see Harry smiling happily, especially towards me.

And I know that Harry smiling happily isn't a normal thing that happens all the time, since he's always so salty in the original books and the movies.

I just laughed nervously and greeted him back, sitting down at the table while waving at the Weasley twins, who were sitting quite a few seats away from us.

They waved back, making goofy faces that made me chuckle and made me scream internally of how adorable they were.

I observed the Gryffindor table for a while, and then noticed something odd.

Like, something or someone was missing.

"Hey," I turned to look at the trio. "Where's Neville?"

" **Neville**?" Harry asked and he looked quite surprised yet confused. "W **h** y **a** r **e** you asking abou **t** **him**?"

I found his question odd, cocking an eyebrow up while throwing Harry a skeptical look.

"I'm just worried because he's not here." I answered, "Why? Am I not allowed to ask about him or something?"

Though I'm aware that my words are somewhat rude, I couldn't help it since Harry makes it look like I'm trying to plot something against Neville. Salazar, he's my friend.

"N-No, **of course** not." Harry scratched the back of his head, smiling nervously at me. I could tell that he didn't mean to offend me, so I calmed myself down and shook all the negative thoughts I had for Harry away.

 **"It's just that;** **you** tw **o** **h** a **ve** **been** **re** a **ll** y **cl** os **e** **l** a **tel** y **,** **haven't** you **?"**

"Uh..." My words trailed off. I couldn't understand what Harry was asking about, nor why he is acting a bit odd tonight. Even his voice was wobbly and cracked a few times.

Maybe something happened while I was gone and hanging out with a whiny ghost in the bathroom?

He seems so... giggly yet cautious and nervous at the same time. He's erratic, to put it shortly.

"Harry, you haven't been drinking a Felix Felicis, have you?" I asked. Now it was Harry's turn to be confused.

"What's a Felix Felicis?"

"Harry, just get to the point already." Hermione sighed as she began to be a little bit impatient since our conversation is starting to go nowhere.

I saw Harry throw the bushy brown haired female a glare before looking back at me with a softened look.

"We are going down to the trapdoor," Harry quieted his voice down for us three to hear, "tonight."

"Okaaaay..." I dragged my voice and forgot that they still haven't told me that we're going down to the trapdoor tonight until now.

I was about to ask them about their plans for the trapdoor before Harry reminded me that he hasn't told me anything about that yet.

I can be so dumb sometimes.

"and if we're going down there tonight, I assume you three already have things planned out?" I asked a question that was meant to be lowkey, as I don't want to make it seem like I know what they're gonna do underneath the trapdoor.

"We kind of already discussed it this afternoon." Ron entered the conversation, stabbing an unidentifiable meat on his plate and bringing it over to his mouth.

"Where have you been? We've been looking everywhere for you!" Harry exclaimed, making me blink and internally take a deep breath since I'm going to have to come up with another lie to cover myself up.

"I've been..." I coughed, diverting my eyes away from the trio. "In the bathroom."

"The bathroom?" Harry's tone of voice made it seem like he doesn't believe me, but not that I blame him.

"You spent an _entire_ afternoon in the bathroom? What were you even doing there?" Hermione's disbelief in her voice made me look back at them while chuckling nervously.

"...stuff." I answered briefly.

_Silence._

The trio stared at each other, clearly still not believing a word I just said.

Hermione just sighed once more, seemingly to give me the benefit of the doubt since she probably thinks that I'm not someone who'd do illegal stuff in private.

"In any case, just be more careful about Malfoy when we go out tonight." She said while tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "We don't want him to follow us and tell Professor McGonagall about what we're up to."

"Why don't we just camp outside our common rooms after dinner?" I suggest with a shrug, earning a look from the brown haired Gryffindor.

"It's very likely that professors and prefects on patrol will find us. Our housemates will also suspect us for not returning to our rooms, even though it's already late." Hermione turned down my idea as she turned to look at Harry and Ron.

"We go down by midnight and make sure you bring your invisibility cloak, Harry." She turned her gaze towards the raven haired boy, who only nodded at her statement. Hermione then, turned her head towards my way.

"As soon as midnight comes, you should already be at the third floor corridor. Try to be wary of your surroundings, (Y/N); we don't want you to get caught." Hermione said.

I shrug and took a glass of apple juice, ready to drink its contents and savor its sweet flavor. However, Harry's action made me stop and put my attention back to the golden trio.

"Wait, why can't we just bring (Y/N) with us? They're risking themselves to get caught!" Harry exclaimed loudly, making Hermione slap his forearm to make him realize how loud he's getting.

Harry pursed his lips and contained his annoyance as he leaned closer towards Hermione while keeping his voice silent.

I couldn't hear what he was saying since he was almost starting to whisper quietly in Hermione's ears so I drank my apple juice for a while until Hermione sighed while rubbing the sides of her head with her fingers.

"Harry, I've told you many times before when we planned it this afternoon; we can't bring (Y/N) with us because the four of us won't fit." Hermione said, strictly as if it's final. "Besides, their common room is literally at the dungeons and we'll probably get lost trying to find it since we don't even know where exactly is the Slytherin common room if we were to go and fetch them."

While Hermione was disagreeing with Harry, I could tell from the corner of my eye, that Harry definitely didn't like the idea of me risking myself to get caught by not being with them to go to the third floor corridor.

Why does he care so much, though? If anything, he should think that it's less hassle for them and he'll just have to worry about Ron screwing things up while they're going there.

"Yeah, and (Y/N) can take care of themselves, mate. They're not that stupid to let themselves get caught by professors, much less prefects." Ron piped in on the conversation while stuffing a muffin in his mouth.

"Did we all forget that Malfoy followed (Y/N) without them knowing that he followed them? What if he does it again? You know that we can't let him tattle on us." Harry tried to reason again but his face became crestfallen when Hermione shook her head and gave him an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry, Harry. But it's more of a risk for us if we let them hide with us or go fetch (Y/N) from the common room." When Hermione said those words, Harry clicked his tongue and looked away with an annoyed look on his face.

"Why are you so keen about this, Harry?" Ron's face lit up as a smile curled up on his lips. "Is it because-"

"No, I just don't want my friends to get hurt." Harry stopped his red-haired friend before he could even continue as he stole a glance towards my way before looking back into the distance, probably to give himself some time to think.

"That's all." Harry said briefly.

Ron scoffed playfully while nudging Hermione with a suggestive look on his face. The female Gryffindor rolled her eyes and shook her head, letting the apologetic look on her face disappear.

While I'm here disregarding the possibility of Harry liking me.

We're eleven year olds; I doubt that Harry has any feelings for me. He's probably just warmed up to me or thinks of me as a very close friend that he doesn't want to lose.

There's just... no way.

_It just feels wrong._

"Anyway, we just need to stop Snape from getting the stone first." Hermione said as she was about to dismiss the topic. "Protecting it is a must."

I was about to open my mouth until Hermione brought a finger up, shushing me as if she knows what I'm about to say.

"I know what you're going to say, (Y/N). But, we're going to say that it's Snape until we're proven wrong." I frown at her words, but also somewhat internally laughed at it since I can just imagine her face when she gets the news that it's actually Quirrell.

I just like to rub in the fact that I'm right, okay?

"Fine." I sigh, crossing my arms and glancing over to the Slytherin table to see if Alem has killed anyone yet.

But to my surprise, my brother is nowhere to be found. Only Draco is there, and even he looks a bit pissed.

"Oh for christ's sake, did something happen again between those two?" I groan and began to stand up from my seat, giving the trio an apologetic smile for leaving so early.

"Who are you talking about?" Ron asked.

"Alem and Draco." I groan again while arranging my oversized Slytherin robe. "Anyway, I'm sorry for having to leave so soon but I think I'll go back to the common room now."

"Don't you think that those two are going to be fine without you?" Harry pouted and seemed like he didn't like the idea of going back to the common room so early.

"Alem and Draco arguing is like the start of world war but in Hogwarts." I said, "though, I don't know which one is Germany and which one is America."

"You know about world history?" Hermione sounded surprised while Harry and Ron was just looking at us back and forth with a confused expression on their faces.

"I know, I'm surprised too. I always sleep during history classes so I don't know what my brain was on during those times." I said, jokingly. "Then again, everyone knows about world war two so..."

"I know briefly about it; I've read about it in a history book one time." Hermione rested her head on the palm of her hand, eyeing me skeptically but the skeptical look disappeared as fast as it came.

"The only thing I know from Germany is their Quidditch team." Ron sighed, making me laugh and snap my fingers at him.

"At least you know something from Germany besides Hitler." I said. The trio's confused face settled in slowly, almost as if they're trying to figure out who Hitler is. Though I'm sure Hermione knows about him, just not as much.

"Anyway, I'm heading out." I stretch for a while as I turned around and waved them goodbye with a smile. "I'll see you all later, alright?"

They waved me goodbye as well after they regained their composure. Harry was the only one who greeted me goodbye before I completely left the Gryffindor table.

I glance back at the Slytherin table, eyeing Draco and the other Slytherins who were minding their own business.

Zabini is now talking to Draco with Pansy by his side. The dark haired girl seemed to be a bit out of it and is in her own mind, which is odd, since I figured that she'll be all around Draco and pestering him with her cringey attempts at flirting.

Meanwhile, Zabini has that same cocky smirk on his lips as he talked to Draco. He has the aura that makes other people be annoyed by him, because he looks sort of narcissistic.

I didn't bother to walk over to the Slytherin table since I only want to find Alem. My brother is way important than those two, and he's most likely back at the common room.

If not, he's probably at the library. It's either one of the two.

»»----- ♡ -----««

Alem groaned, ignoring the stares of the other students that passed him by. They were a bit unsettled of how angry and annoyed the (H/C) haired boy seemed to be.

"Stupid Malfoy. I hope he falls down in a ditch and get slugs shoved inside his mouth." He cursed underneath his breath while tightening his fist to try and control his anger and not accidentally punch a wall.

The boy was about to turn his head to his side, ready to rant to (Y/N) about how close-minded a certain Malfoy was. But, he stopped and frowned when he realized that (Y/N) was with Harry, Ron and Hermione right now.

 _They're probably talking about the sorcerer's stone right now. Sweet Merlin, I hope (Y/N)'s not getting in trouble again._ Alem thought and prayed for his twin's safety and that they won't do anything dumb or stupid.

Though, it's more likely that (Y/N) will do something stupid that will endanger their life.

"Hi, Rosewood." A familiar girl's voice caused Alem to raise his head and look to see who called his last name. It was Romilda Vane, waving at him while nudging a blushing Lavender Brown.

Alem chuckled nervously and waved back as he passed them by. He could've sworn that he heard Lavender squeal and Romilda giggling happily for her friend, though Alem felt uncomfortable by it.

"(Y/N) was right; I shouldn't be proud about having that Gryffindor girl liking me." He muttered as he climbed down the stairs towards the dungeon, where the Slytherin common room was located.

Alem continued to walk towards the entrance, and stopped in front of it. He stared at the crack on the wall for a moment, quivering his lips as something in him stopped him from saying the password.

It reminded him of Draco, and how he thinks that purebloods only deserve respect. It goes against everything that Alem's parents taught him, especially his mother.

The boy gritted his teeth and exclaimed loudly, ruffling his hair due to his frustration.

"Argh! I hate him so much!" He continued to groan in frustration for a few seconds until a voice made him stop.

"So, if you're done being dramatic, could you just cough out the password and let me in already?" Millicent Bulstrode crossed her arms, her finger tapping her forearm impatiently.

Alem turned to look at Millicent with a deadpan look until he growled and took a step to the side.

"What are you doing?" Millicent asked, eyeing Alem curiously.

"Letting you in." Alem responded coolly.

"The entrance is still closed." She started to growl at the Rosewood.

"Well, why don't you just 'cough out' the password yourself?" He raised an eyebrow at her.

"You were the first one before me! Besides, you need to learn how to be a gentleman and be kind to girls like me!" She started to throw a fit, stomping her foot on the stony ground of the dungeons.

Alem felt like he was about to throw up due to how self-entitled she was.

"I can learn how to be a gentleman, just not to girls like **you**." He sneered at the girl, who could only look at Alem with a look of disbelief.

"H-How dare you!" Millicent started to tear up with her lips quivering. "D-Don't you know who I am!?"

"...no, and I don't care to know." Alem shrugged, diverting his attention somewhere besides the now-crying girl in front of him.

"I'm part of the Bulstrode family! A pureblood family!" She exclaimed, her huge round face now becoming red due to her frustration and anger for the Rosewood in front of her.

"Like I said, I don't really care. But hey, aren't you a half-blood?" He scoffed while rolling his eyes in annoyance, "so you're not technically from a pureblood family, are you?"

Alem, then fake gasped and placed a hand on his chest while looking at Millicent with a sad, apologetic gaze.

"I'm _so sorry_ if I have to break it to you, but you must be adopted!" He wiped a fake tear from the corner of his eye and pretend to sob. "Oh, do I feel _sorry_ for you."

Of course, Alem was joking. He knew who Millicent was and that she's part of the Sacred Twenty-Nine. He wasn't wrong about her being a half-blood.

The question is;

How did this girl not know that Alem's family is part of the Sacred Twenty-Nine? Does the family name 'Rosewood' not ring a bell to her?

Millicent began to cry out loud and covered her face with her large hands. Alem stifled his laughter and took large deep breaths to compose himself.

"M-Mark my words, Rosewood! Y-You'll... you'll regret this!" She hiccuped in between sentences and her sobs only got more intense when she saw Alem stifling his laughter. "I'll make you regret... this!"

The girl ran off while crying out loud, bumping into a few Slytherin students, who were confused as they turned their heads to stare at Millicent's retreating form.

Alem laughed out loud as he couldn't control his laughter anymore.

It definitely relieved some stress in him, and although it wasn't a very professional thing for Alem to do, especially to a girl, he just couldn't help it. He eventually stopped laughing when the Slytherins, possibly third or fourth years, shot him a disapproving look.

He could only shrug and grin at them as they said the password, letting the crack in the wall widen and show the entrance to the Slytherin common room. Alem followed right behind them, smirking to himself.

Such a snake he is.

»»----- ♡ -----««

When I went back to the common room and back to our dorm, Alem was already in his bed. His legs were crossed and his large pillow was situated right behind him, letting him rest his back on it while he held the book and nestled it on the center of his crossed legs.

He continued The Neverland's Promise. I should've expected him to; he's pretty obsessed with it.

He often spoils me the book and telling me how the main characters were pretty smart and clever, despite being children.

He sets the book aside and bookmarks it with a random crinkled paper, beckoning me to come sit next to him while smiling. That's weird. Something must've happened to him.

First off, he told me how annoying Draco was in the Great Hall, and it was the reason why he stormed off. I somewhat agreed with him; Draco was pretty much annoying.

His loathing for the Weasleys can't be helped, but come on, even Professor Snape will say that he's going too far.

Second off, he made Millicent Bulstrode cry. A howl of laughter escaped my mouth when he told the part when he jokingly said that she was adopted.

Salazar, I wish I had seen her crying face. Oh, it would be the highlight of the night for me.

Despite the girl having nothing to do with me, she's still a stuck-up girl in a pureblood family, who thinks that they are superior in any way. That's enough to make me want to see her cry and fail.

"Honestly, it was," Alem did a chef's kiss while laughing along with me. "the best thing I've ever done in my first year, besides turning Professor Quirrell's Aguamenti into a clean block of ice during DADA."

"I never saw you as the type of person who would do that, Alem." My laughter died down as I sigh in satisfaction, making me feel like I've lost a few weights off of my shoulder.

"Well, she just became my stress reliever. I was frustrated so I needed to cool off for a while, as evil as that was." Alem shrugged. I hummed, not really caring about Alem's questionable ways of relieving stress.

"Oh, by the way," It was my turn to grab Alem's attention and I sighed at this, hesitating whether or not I should tell him that I'm sneaking out with Harry tonight.

But I definitely need him to watch Draco, in case he follows me again.

"Um," I push my hair back while casting my eyes away from him, "I'm sneaking out with Harry and the others again tonight..."

I look back at him and he held a deadpan look, until his eyebrow cocked up in confusion.

"Why?" He asked briefly. "I mean, isn't it time that you four wrap up this sorcerer's stone nonsense and just... properly finish the first year without getting yourselves in trouble?"

Alem rolled his eyes before groaning. "Honestly, I'm getting worried for you, (Y/N); I know that you're someone who gets in trouble all the time, but you've been caught once and that didn't end well for you. You're the most troublesome out of all the Slytherins here."

"I'm not technically the only one who got caught though." I blinked.

"The point is, just accept the fact that there is no sorcerer's stone and no one is trying to steal it, even if it is real." Alem held his head in frustration.

It was my turn to roll my eyes, ignoring his statement since he most likely doesn't understand anything about us doing this sorcerer's stone mystery.

"There's actually something that I want you to do, besides scolding me and telling me that there's nothing wrong going on with the sorcerer's stone." I told, making Alem raise his head and look at me.

"What is it now?" He asked with a groan.

"So, you remember how Draco followed me to Hagrid's hut and told Professor McGonagall about it?" I asked and noticed how his body stiffed when I mentioned about Draco following me.

"Is Hagrid the name of the half-giant gamekeeper?" He asked, his body now loosening.

"Yeah. That's his name."

"Okay, continue." He made a weird circular motion with his hand.

"Um, so I want you to look out for him. In case he tries to follow me again." I breathe in sharply through my teeth. "We can't really let anyone follow us or know what we're doing tonight, so yeah."

"Yet here you are, talking about how you four are doing something illegal later tonight." Alem face-palmed, making me laugh and put up a thumbs up for him to see.

"Well, I'm pretty sure you won't tell anyone because I'll most likely get expelled when you do." I grin, but it disappeared as soon as Alem slapped me with one of his pillows, making me hold my arms up to shield myself from his deadly attack with his pillow.

"You're.lucky.that.you.are.my.sister/brother!" He said, slapping a pillow on my face every time he finishes a word. I kept yelping and telling him to stop as I am now fully laying on his bed.

Alem stops after a while, tossing the pillow that he used to torture me, to the side.

He huffs and pouts as I sit up once again, combing my hair with my fingers since I felt that it got messy.

"You better be careful, you idiot." He clicks his tongue. I laugh and made a peace sign while grinning at him.

"Don't worry, bro; I may be dumb but I'm not dumb enough to not be careful."

Although, I did kinda felt like I'm going to die later on. I'm so getting in trouble tonight.

I just hope that my "poisonous" apple plan works on Quirrell and Voldemort.

»»----- ♡ -----««

As the clock continues to tick down to midnight, the castle grows silent and felt like everything is now calm and peaceful.

With the school year ending tomorrow, it seems that every students are now happily sleeping in their rooms as they no longer had any more schoolwork to worry about.

However, as the clock strikes midnight, with the sound of the grandfather clocks in each common rooms resonating and mixing around the castle, (Y/N) opens their eyes and slowly sits up.

They observe the room for a while, and stopped their eyes on their brother's 'sleeping' form on his bed.

"Alem," (Y/N) called out to their brother with their voice being barely high enough as a whisper. "It's time."

Alem slowly opened his eyes and they immediately narrowed, shooting (Y/N) a glare as he sits up from his bed. "I'm getting so sleepy; remind me why I have to do this again?"

He softly groaned and kept his annoyed voice down. (Y/N) could only chuckle and pat their brother's shoulder. "Don't worry, Alem. Just remember that I won't get in trouble if you're also helping me."

"I will personally murder you once you come back." Alem ignored (Y/N)'s attempts to lighten up the mood but they could only roll their eyes playfully before walking over towards their nightstand and slowly opened their bag, pulling out an apple and pocketing it.

"Why are you bringing an apple with you?" Alem asked as he rubbed his eyes, trying to focus on (Y/N) and whatever they're doing. The other Rosewood twin smirked while placing a hand on their hips.

"You know what they say; an apple a day, keeps the doctor away." The boy didn't understand what (Y/N) just said and only pulled up a confused and tired face.

(Y/N) scoffed playfully, patting Alem's shoulder again.

"Just kidding, bro." They smile. "The apple has the paralyzing potion in it."

Alem almost choked on his spit, and he widens his (E/C). He looked completely awake and startled, catching (Y/N) off guard because they didn't expect that reaction from him.

"Are you mad!? What in Merlin's name are you even going to do with that!?" The boy slapped his twin's forearm, feeling concerned for their actions and what they're going to do with a spiked apple.

"Keep it down, you idiot. You're going to wake them up!" (Y/N) slapped Alem's forearm back. "And don't worry, I have this under control."

(Y/N) placed their hands around the nightstand, trying to feel their wand in order to grab it. They felt as though they need to bring it with them, especially tonight.

When they felt their wand in their hands, they place it in their other other pocket.

"How could I not worry when you literally have a poisoned apple in your possession right now!?" Alem whispered in a harsh tone. "Well, it's not technically poisoned but you know what I mean!"

However, (Y/N) only ignored Alem's rant and made sure that they didn't forget anything. "Like I said, I have this under control. You don't have to worry so much." They rolled their eyes and tip-toed their way to the door.

"Well bro, adios. Wish me luck." (Y/N) made a peace sign as they slowly opened the door, earning a slightly loud creaking sound. Alem winced at the sound and only scowled at his twin while crossing his arms.

"Be careful, you idiot." He briefly told. (Y/N) nodded as they walk out of the room, gently closing the door before walking out of the Slytherin common room themselves, ready to try and not get caught by Filch or any of the professors as they make their way towards the third floor corridor.

(Y/N) felt every single one of their nerves shaking. They were nervous, to say the least.

They take a few deep breaths every 10 seconds to try and calm themselves down, but whenever they remember Quirrell removing his turban and revealing Voldemort pressed at the back of his head, (Y/N)'s nervousness only grew.

It doesn't help that Voldemort and Quirrell know that they're not actually from this fictional world. The discussion that (Y/N), Quirrell and Voldemort had last time in the trophy room was also added to (Y/N)'s nervousness.

 _For god's sake, my stomach hurts. I want to take a shit._ (Y/N) internally cried and cursed to themselves for feeling too nervous.

Meanwhile, in the Gryffindor common room, the trio was being stopped by a crying Neville.

The chubby boy looked very down and his downcast eyes was enough to make Hermione and Ron feel bad for him.

Harry, however, only casted his green eyes away from Neville, while feeling nervous as he didn't want to get caught.

"I... I'm sorry. I can't..." Neville lowered his fists, tears glimmering in the corner of his eyes. "I want to stop you but... I can't."

Hermione and Ron stared at each other. They felt bad for Neville and they really wanted to cheer him up ever since Ron had heard that Neville found Trevor, his frog, had his stomach cut open and was placed right underneath his pillow as he was searching for him.

Ron could still remember Neville's sobs and how disturbing it was that someone had actually done this to Trevor. Prank or not, Ron thought that this was going way too far.

Harry stood in the corner the whole time, tightening his fists and feeling cold sweat running through his forehead.

He doesn't want to get caught and he doesn't want someone to suspect him.

Does he feel guilty? Of course, he does.

He just had to do it just to keep Neville away from (Y/N). Just to give him the message to stay away from them.

"Neville, I'm really sorry about what happened to Trevor but we really need to get going." Hermione was cold and dismissive about Neville's feelings, but she didn't meant to be. Neville understood that as he wiped his tears and nodded.

"I'm sorry for... holding you up. I just t-thought I could stop you but... it's not possible." Neville hiccuped.

Harry wanted to say something to comfort Neville, but he couldn't as he was the one who caused him to be this sad in the first place.

It would be very hypocritical of him if he does.

"Tell you what, Neville," Ron walked up to the chubby boy, placing his hand on his shoulder and smiling apologetically at him. "Let's bury little Trevor outside tomorrow morning. He deserves to get a proper burial, at least."

Neville looked up to Ron and nodded, feeling grateful that Ron is trying to cheer him up. The redhead retracted his hand away and waved the chubby boy goodbye as he walked towards the exit of the Gryffindor common room.

Hermione could only smile apologetically at Neville as she followed Ron from behind. Harry stopped in front of Neville for a while.

The raven haired boy could only frown when he remembered how close Neville was with Trevor,

_**and he took him away from him.** _

"I'm sorry, Neville." Harry apologized, blinking at Neville who looked surprised but then smiled bitterly.

Even Harry could tell that he was only forcing himself to smile as he is so pained.

"What are you apologizing for, Harry?" Neville chuckled, "It's not your fault."

Harry felt a bitter taste in his mouth when Neville said those words. He very well knew that it's his fault and he felt guilty for not being able to tell the truth to Neville.

However, when he remembered how close he was being to (Y/N), he kept telling himself that he wasn't doing anything wrong.

Harry lost his parents; Voldemort killed them and took them away from him.

Now, when Harry has found someone who he could love and hopefully, be with without them leaving his side, he couldn't bear to see them being so close with someone besides their twin brother.

Trevor is basically Neville's best friend and despite him only being a frog, Harry knew that Neville cared and loved Trevor,

and he just went off and killed him out of jealousy.

Wouldn't that make him the same as Voldemort in a way?

No, Harry refused to believe that. He doesn't want to compare himself to the monster who never gave him a home to return to until now.

The monster who took the only people who could've given him love and appreciation.

"Harry, let's go." Ron called out, making Harry snap out of his senses and immediately nodded at Neville, as if he's apologizing for his loss and hope that he feels better soon.

Neville nodded back and watched as Harry walked over to the two Gryffindors, who were standing right at the exit of the common room.

Ron and Hermione looked back at Neville to see if he'd be alright by himself before fully leaving the Gryffindor common room. Harry couldn't be bothered to look back, however. He doesn't want to.

He doesn't want to look back on what he's done.

After all,

it's easier to blame others for your mistakes than you, yourself.

»»----- ♡ -----««

" _Baki baki ni ore, nani wo?_ " I whisper-sung while sitting on the floor next to the third floor corridor door and hugging myself for comfort.

I genuinely wanted to go to the bathroom due to my nervousness. It's making my stomach grumble and ache.

" _Kokoro wo dayo._ " I continue, trying to jam with Tendou Satori's song from Haikyuu by moving my fingers as if I'm dancing to it.

" _Konagona niku dake, nani wo?_ " I divert my fingers over to the door, when it suddenly and coincidentally opened. I yelped and held my chest as if I suddenly had a heart attack.

"(Y/N)?" Harry's whispered voice as he slipped his head out of the invisibility cloak made me sigh in relief and stand up, dusting off any dirt that came in my pajamas.

"Salazar, I thought it was Filch or something." I said, watching as the trio removed the invisibility cloak so I can see them well enough.

"Same here; we heard a voice outside the door so we thought that it was Filch and you got caught or something." Ron looked very relieved when he settled his blue eyes on me.

"What were you even doing down there?" Hermione asked.

"Waiting... and trying to calm myself down." I huff and walk over to them, ready to follow the trio towards the door where Fluffy is waiting.

"I know how you feel; I've been trying to calm myself down for the past five hours now." Hermione fanned herself, letting a panicked look settle on her face. Ron rolled his eyes and nudged the brown haired girl.

"Calm down, Hermione. I'm sure nothing bad will happen." Ron tried to calm but I crossed my arms at his statement.

"Don't jinx it, Ron." I sigh and started to walk over towards the door at the end of the corridor.

Everyone was silent for a moment, until I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around to see who it was.

"Are you okay though?" Harry's small and concerned voice caused me to smile, making him know that I'm alright and there's nothing to worry about.

Though, I am pretty much nervous since I don't want to die right at the end of the first year.

"I'm fine, Harry. Thank you for worrying." I said.

"Just tell me if you're feeling bad or anything of the sort." The raven haired Gryffindor smiled back. "I'll be here."

I didn't respond. Instead, I turned away from him and bit my lip in conflict. He's starting to act a lot like Louis back in my school.

However, I just can't see Harry more than just a friend who I can hang out with to feel that sense of adventure I've always wanted to feel since I came here.

He's my friend, but I admit that I'm just being friends with him because I know interesting yet dangerous things happen to him all the time, and I want to be a part of that. I want to take the risk even though it scares me.

However, I should slap myself and think about the possibility that Harry is just being a very close friend.

He's never had actual friends before, so he's being like this. I shouldn't jump into conclusions, or else it will destroy the friendship that I have with Harry.

"You're very confusing, you know that?" A familiar childish voice made me jerk my head up in surprise. I turn around beside me and saw Erised walking right next to me with their hands placed inside their signature hoodie pockets.

"You have someone who might start to have feelings for you but then you disregard them and think that they're just being overly friendly." They throw their strawberry blonde colored hair back. I turn around to see if the trio is still there, and they are.

However, they seem to be walking aimlessly and their eyes are only being brought straight and forward, almost as if they're in the imperious curse.

"You know that I could never see Harry as nothing more than just a friend of mine." I retort back. Erised flickers their eyes up towards mine and scoffs as a smirk begins to curl up on the corner of their lips.

"Well you know, that might just change soon enough." They said, and I grew confused at their words.

Do they really expect me to just fall in love with Harry, when he's literally younger than me, if we're speaking about my real life age?

By the time Harry becomes 30, I'll most likely be 48 in real life.

However, I shook those thoughts away and grew stern as I began to ask Erised the question that I've always wanted to ask them ever since I've 'regained' my memories on the second night.

"The deal." I said.

"So that's what you want to talk about right now?" They stretch before retrieving a lollipop from inside their hoodie pocket. "To be honest, I've already forgotten about the deal that you had to make by the end of the first year because you've already done it."

Erised removes the wrapper off of the lollipop and brings it over inside their mouth. "Twice, actually."

I choked on my spit and my eyes became as wide as a saucer, staring at the childlike entity that's walking quite calmly beside me.

But then, I face-palmed and held my head in frustration with a groan escaping my mouth.

"Jesus christ, if I already did the 'thing' that I needed to do before the first year ends, why didn't you tell me sooner!? I wouldn't be panicking and be so goddamn paranoid if you told me!" I exclaim. Erised rolled their eyes and pointing their finger towards me accusingly.

"Oh shut the fuck up; it's not like you asked until now. Don't be such a goddamn crybaby." They cross their arms.

"Okay wait, so..." I stop them, holding up my hands. "What was the thing that I needed to do?"

"Well, the deal was; you should let, at least, one person to be infatuated with you by the end of the first year or else I will kill you myself." They said, holding up one finger as they moved their lollipop around their mouth.

"So, does this mean that... Harry really does like me? And who's the other guy that likes me?" I start to panic and making exaggerated hand movements, pointing right at the aimless walking Harry right next to me.

"Maybe, maybe not." Erised shrugged. An irk mark appeared in my forehead as I became irritated with their carefree and calm actions.

"Erised, I'm about to go and see a parasite version of Voldemort with Harry in the next two hours; I've no time for jokes." I scowl and leaned closer towards Erised.

They bring their free hand towards my face and basically pushed me back, making me groan and yelp because I didn't expect them to do that.

Salazar, I almost bumped into aimless Harry.

"Go figure it out yourself. It's your goddamn life, not mine." Erised groaned.

"This is important, Erised! I need to know who I should carefully act around with!" I exclaim and then immediately realized something, before blushing and fumbling with my fingers. "Of course, maybe except Cedric."

"Oh god, you're not starting to get infatuated with Cedric, are you?" Erised's wincing voice and scrunched up face was enough to make me feel as if they're actually cringing with what I just said and did. " You do realize that he's going to die, right?"

"I'm not letting him die." My voice became stern and serious as I tighten my fists and remembered how Voldemort ordered Wormtail kill Cedric as he was only a spare and is irrelevant to his plans of returning as the dark lord. "Not this time."

"Are you sure you should do that? I'm speaking from my experience, (Y/N); if someone shouldn't be saved and is meant to actually die, one shouldn't try and save them or else there'll be serious problems later on." Erised's eyes glinted dangerously, and it reminded me of how Alem's eyes would do the same if he was angry or pissed.

However, I could only scoff and turn away from them as I crossed my arms.

"I mean, you did save me from the boring, normal world I was in. Look where I am now." I show Erised the aimless trio and then myself at the end of my sentence. I couldn't deny that I did change in some way as soon as I came here in Hogwarts.

I mean, it was pretty obvious anyway.

"Where you are now. Not where you're going to end up in." Erised corrected me, pointing their finger again.

I roll my eyes at this and then held my head as I started to feel my head hurt due to this conversation that I'm having with this child.

Every single time I have a conversation with them, my head always hurts.

It's probably because they're always such a pain in the ass and in the head and I wouldn't hesitate to slap them if I ever have the chance to.

"If you're not going to tell me anything, just let me do my work and finish this year once and for all." I sigh. "I still have a stuttering turban-wearing fuck that I need to kick right in the balls."

"I really can't take you seriously when you swear, (Y/N). Especially when you look like a child." Erised chuckles and gave me a smug look, as if they actually see me as nothing more than a child, rather than an 18 year old.

"Oh, you're the one to talk." I bring up my middle finger while scowling at the strawberry haired child.

Erised brings up their middle finger as well, smirking while narrowing their eyes in anger as an irk mark appeared on their forehead.

"I'll see you later, stalker." They said before disappearing as soon as I blinked my eyes. Suddenly, everything felt as if time continued to move and flow.

I blink once again and felt myself manually breathing as I was immediately greeted by a brown, wooden door.

"(Y/N), are you sure you're okay?" Harry's voice caused me to startle, however, I immediately turned to look at him to reassure him that I'm fine since I don't want him to worry about me again.

"Y-Yeah, why?" Great, I stuttered. Why do I feel so awkward with him now?

"You've been staring at the door for ten seconds now, and you haven't been responding to us if we call out your name." Harry frowned. I turn to look at Ron and Hermione, who shared the same worried look that Harry had.

"Oh sorry, I was uh..." I snapped my fingers, trying to think of any lies to poorly cover myself. "Monologuing."

"Doing what now?" Ron asked until Hermione sighed and pulled out her wand.

She gently asks me to step out of the way and I obliged, making way for Hermione as she cleared her throat and pointed her wand at the lock on the wooden door.

"Alohomora." She said as the lock on the door opened. Hermione puts her wand away and eyes the three of us.

"We wouldn't get anywhere if we keep talking. Come on." She rolled her eyes and beckoned for us to come inside the room.

We followed her inside, me being the last as I gently closed the door so that no one would know that someone opened the door here.

"Is that..." Hermione turned her head over towards the harp that was placed near the foot of Fluffy. The three-headed dog huffed its nose, sending us its hot exhale before Hermione could even finish her sentence.

I quickly turned around and pinched my nose to prevent myself from smelling Fluffy's breath.

"God, that must stink." I whisper and watched as the trio did the same thing. They begin to breathe deeply once again but we all became paralyzed as Fluffy began to sniff his nose towards our direction with his eyes still closed.

"Oh shit." I whispered but it was loud enough for Hermione to hear, as she slapped my forearm for swearing. Harry seemed to panic and fumbled around his pockets to retrieve something.

My mouth slightly parted as Harry took out the flute that he got from Hagrid this Christmas.

Of course, Harry doesn't know that I know that he got it from Hagrid.

As Fluffy began to growl, Harry brought the flute up to his lips and began to play.

One single note was enough to make Fluffy loosen up and fall asleep. Harry didn't even have to blow two notes. The raven haired boy brought his flute down in confusion.

"I guess Hagrid wasn't lying when he said that Fluffy falls asleep right after someone plays him music." Ron shrugged and sighed in relief. This relief was short-lived as soon as Fluffy began to growl and open his eyes.

Harry immediately began to play the flute again, doing random melodies just to keep Fluffy asleep. Ron, Hermione and I looked at each other to see what we need to do next.

I pointed at the trapdoor that Fluffy held his paw on. "We need to move his paw." I said, making the two Gryffindors nod and walk over to his paw.

They lift each side of Fluffy's paw and moved it away from the trapdoor with a grunt.

"That looks heavy." I commented, while Ron rolled his eyes and brought his hands down to the ring handle of the trapdoor. He pulls it open, revealing only a dark abyss that makes it impossible for one to see what's down there.

"What do you see?" Hermione peered over from behind him. Ron shook his head and stood up, sighing as he did so.

"Nothing - just black - there's no way of climbing down." The redhead looked back down on the dark abyss. "We'll just have to drop."

"Gee, that looks safe." I cringed as I looked down at the trapdoor. Although I know that the Devil Snare will catch us and cushion our fall, I can't help but scrunch my face at the thought of falling down from such a tall height.

"You want to go first? Are you sure?" I turn my head away from the trapdoor and looked at Ron, who was looking at Harry. The raven haired boy nodded but continued to play the flute.

"I don't know how deep this thing goes." Ron sighs, taking a brief glance at the trapdoor before nodding his head towards me. "Give the flute to (Y/N) so they can keep him asleep."

I blink my eyes at Ron but didn't complain, since I just needed to keep playing to keep the dog asleep.

I walk over to Harry, making him stop playing the flute and handing it over to me with slight hesitation.

Fluffy began to twitch and growl after a few minutes silence, so I immediately brought the flute up to my lips and continued to play.

Salazar, I don't know how to play a flute so I'm just randomly pressing holes in the flute to make a melody. Fluffy went back to his beauty sleep after I played it again.

I could've sworn I saw Harry blushing for a brief moment but it might've just been my imagination. The boy walked over to the trapdoor and looked over it, while I watched them as I continued to play the flute.

I couldn't exactly hear what they're saying, but I frowned as I saw Harry lowering himself down the hole until he was hanging on by his fingertips.

I could see Harry's lips moving but I could only hear some of the words he's saying, such as 'something happens' and 'Dumbledore'

Ron nodded with a frown as Harry lets go, dropping himself down to the hole and disappearing from our line of sight.

The only thing that the three of us in the room could hear, is my horrible flute-playing skills as we all looked at the hole of the trapdoor expectingly.

"It's okay!" I heard Harry shouting from below, after a few seconds of not hearing anything from him. "It's a soft landing - you can jump!"

Before anyone can even say anything, Ron already jumped down the hole and disappeared from our line of sight as well.

Hermione shuddered at the height of the fall but turned to look at me.

"Do you want to go next?" Hermione asked and pointed at the hole. I shook my head and waved my hands in a 'shoo' motion, indicating that she can go ahead and jump first. The brown haired girl nodded and stared at the hole for a moment before shutting her eyes close and jumping down with a yelp.

'Now, all that's left is me.' I thought as I walked over to the hole and looked down. I bring my hands over to my pockets, feeling the apple and my wand still in my possession.

I remove the flute away from my lips and placed it in the pocket where my wand was located.

I place both of my hands on my pockets to secure the safety of each items and to make sure that they wouldn't fall.

As soon as Fluffy began to growl and twitch his eyes open, I hold my breath and jumped down, feeling the cold, damp air rush past me as I fell down.

After a few seconds of falling, I felt myself landing on something soft.

I sit up and try to adjust my eyesight around the dark, and it wasn't until I finally managed to see the three Gryffindors being confused at what they just landed onto.

"Where-" I tried to sound as confused as possible but stopped as soon as I felt long and dark tendrils twisting around my legs and slowly creeping up to my hips. I blushed heavily and thought of tentacle- never mind.

God, I didn't have to make it so weird.

I flick my eyes over to the two Gryffindor boys, who fought against the plant and tried to pry its long twisting tendrils out of their bodies.

Hermione was the only one who's still looking confused until her eyes lit up as if she had realized something.

"Stop moving!" Hermione exclaimed as she remained perfectly still on the plant's grasp. "I know what this is - it's a Devil Snare!"

"Oh, I'm _so glad_ we know what it's called! That's a _great_ help!" Ron shouted sarcastically as he leaned back and tried to stop the plant from curling itself up on his neck.

"This is getting so weird." I cringe when I felt the plant snaking up on my arms. I felt a bit ticklish but didn't say anything as I continued to remain calm and let the plant do whatever it's going to do.

"Shut up! I'm trying to remember how to kill it!" Hermione shuts her eyes close and looked like she's trying to frantically rummage through her brain to find any information about the plant.

"Well, hurry up - I can't breathe and it might kill us before we even know it!" Harry choked out and continued to squirm to try and get some space to breathe.

I hold my breath and close my eyes gently once I felt the plant swallowing me whole with its tendrils.

However, once I felt myself being dropped to the ground, I immediately catch myself, and stand up to observe the three Gryffindors who are still panicking while trying to catch my breath.

"(Y/N)!?" Harry called out, moving his head from left to right to see where I've went. "Where did they go!? Are they dead!?"

"Oh bloody hell, now (Y/N) is gone!" Ron cried out and only struggled around the plant frantically.

"God, I wish I am." I muttered with a laugh before cupping my hands and placing them on my mouth.

"I'm very much alive, Harry!" I yelled out. "Just calm down! It won't hurt you!"

"W-Wha... Where are you!?" Harry called out but he's seemed to have calmed down after hearing me yelling.

"Shut up!" Hermione exclaimed again. "Devil's Snare, Devil's Snare... what did Professor Sprout say? - it likes the dark and damp-"

"So light a fire!" Harry yelled.

"Yes, of course - but there's no wood!" Hermione cried out as she also began to squirm around the plant to search for anything to help them.

" **HAVE YOU GONE MAD!?** " Ron bellowed out, making me startle about how loud his voice became. " **ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT!?** "

"Okay, that's it." I scoff, pulling out my wand from my pocket and pointing it at the Devil Snare. I think I've seen them suffering enough for tonight.

"Lumos Maxima!" I cast, bringing out a bright and blinding white light from the tip of my wand.

I shield my eyes away from the light and heard the plant scuttle and rustle away, followed by three loud yelps from the Gryffindors that fell to the ground with a thud.

As the light began to fade away, I place my wand back in my pocket. "You're welcome." I give them a peace sign as they groaned and slowly stood up.

"Oh, are you alright?" Harry was about to walk towards me but I took a step back and laughed.

"I'm fine, really. Don't worry. I'm tougher than you think." He frowned at my actions but didn't say anything.

We all leaned ourselves on the cobblestone wall, wiping sweat from our foreheads and trying to recollect ourselves from what just happened.

"Lucky you pay attention in Herbology, Hermione." Harry said, panting.

"Yeah, and lucky (Y/N) doesn't lose their head in a crisis." Ron clicked his tongue and bitterly stared at Hermione. _"'There's no wood'_ _ **honestly**_."

Hermione could only shoot Ron a nasty glare as she crossed her arms while huffing angrily.

"This way," Harry pointed down a stone passageway, which was the only way forward, after a few seconds of rest.

The raven haired boy started to walk towards it as we followed quietly behind him.

I sigh and rubbed both of my hands together, feeling a bit chilly. I suddenly remembered the night when we all went to the forbidden forest, and Draco offered me his black cloak since he saw me getting chilly.

I scoff at the memory, thinking as if it's like a shoujo anime moment that only happens once.

"Can you hear something?" Ron whispered, making me snap back to reality and perk my ears to listen closely.

None of us said a word for a second as we tried to sharpen our ears to listen.

A soft, rustling and clinking sound seemed to come up ahead.

"Do you think it's a ghost?" Hermione asked un surely.

"I don't know... sounds like wings to me." I shrug while crossing my arms.

"There's light ahead - I can see something moving." Harry pointed as we continued to walk over towards it, nearing the room to satisfy our curiosity.

Once we reached the end of the passageway, a brilliantly lit chamber was hung up on the arching ceiling above us.

It was full of small and jewel-like birds tumbling and flying around, circling around the chamber and seemed to mind their own business.

"That's actually kinda pretty." I commented.

"Do you think they'll attack us if we try to cross the room?" Ron stared up at the flying birds and squinting his eyes to try and get a better look at them.

"Eh, better to try than to regret later, I suppose." I said before sprinting over to the other end of the room, where a large wooden door with a ring handle was waiting.

"Wait, (Y/N)-!"

I could only give them a thumbs up, as slow my pace and jogged backwards while facing them with a smile on my lips.

I only stopped once I already reached the door, watching the trio's confused yet awed faces.

Well, I knew that they weren't going to hurt me so I went for it. If I didn't know anything about those birds, I would've yeeted myself out of this room.

The three Gryffindors walked over to where I was, Harry giving me a sigh and a look that basically said 'don't do that again'.

Ron placed his hand on the ring handle and tried to pull it open but it didn't even budge, not even after Hermione tried to unlock it with Alohomora.

"Of course it's not that easy." I crossed my arms.

"So what now?" Ron asked and looked around the room for anything useful to use.

"You know, maybe the birds aren't just here for display." I pointed up at the tumbling and flying birds in the chamber, making the trio look up to see what they can do with them.

"Yes, there's something odd about them." Hermione added, supporting my theory.

"Wait a second," Harry took a step forward as he squinted his eyes for a moment and then widened them as if he'd realized something. "They're not birds! They're keys! Winged keys - look carefully. So, that must mean..."

Harry began to scan the room. "Yes, look! Broomsticks! We've got to catch the key to the door!"

"With Harry's Quidditch skills, this might be easy for him." I commented, placing my hands on the pockets of my pajamas.

Harry gave a smile for a brief moment until Hermione piped in with a concerned look on her face.

"But there are _hundreds_ of them! We can't just try and fit in all of the keys for the door!" Hermione said.

"We don't have to try all of them if we know the key that we're looking for." I replied and watched as Ron walked over to the door and examined it.

"We're looking for a big, old-fashioned one - probably silver, like the handle." Ron walked away from the door and turned to look at Harry to see what he's going to do next.

"Let's go." Harry nodded as he led us to the corner of the chamber, where the broomsticks were. I grumble as I grabbed one myself.

Though I've taken Madam Hooch's flying lessons, I'm not exactly the type of person who one could say a good flyer.

I always lose control of the broom once or twice, making me twist and turn around for ten seconds before getting it in control again. It's so weird.

Once I hopped in the broomstick, I followed the three Gryffindors up in the air, trying to catch one flying key, though I know that the 'key' that I'm trying to catch isn't the right one.

They're also damn impossible to catch - always swooping in different directions before our fingers could even touch them.

"Oh fu-!" I shrieked when I felt my broomstick going in different directions again.

I keep my firm grim in it so I wouldn't fall down, but it's getting really hard since the broom is trying to kick me out and make me fall down to my demise.

"(Y/N)!" I heard Harry call out but I couldn't be bothered to respond to him as I'm focusing on trying to steer and control my broom.

Ten seconds have passed and the broom stopped trying to shake around, making me sigh in relief and go down to the ground, stepping away from my broom.

"(Y/N), are you okay!?" Ron called out, making me look up at them.

"I'm... getting too dizzy! I need to sit this one out!" I waved and yelled at the three Gryffindors in the air and sat near the locked door.

I could only watch as they try to catch the flying key with one broken and crumpled wing.

Eventually, they did succeed in doing so as they all flew down to the ground with Harry holding the key to the locked door, after he literally crushed both of its wings on the wall.

I give him a thumbs up and a smile as he walked towards me, ensuring the fact that I really am okay.

Honestly, if I took a shot every time Harry asked if I'm okay right after a dangerous thing just happened to me, I'd probably be knocked out.

When the key was still trying to struggle against Harry's grasp, he immediately ran over towards the door and rammed it on the key lock, twisting it open with two hands to bring more force to it.

Once a loud click was heard, the three Gryffindors, along with me, smiled at our victory for our second test.

Harry pulled the key out, letting it fly away slowly as its wings were too battered and crumpled to even fly fairly.

I walk over to the trio after my dizziness subsided, ready to face the next test.

"Ready?" Harry asked us as he placed his hand on the handle, and we all nodded in response.

He pulls the door open, entering the next room with us following gently behind him.

We couldn't see anything - it was pitch black. The only source of light that we have is from the previous room that we were in, until the door slammed itself close once all four of us were inside and closing us in the darkness.

It wasn't long until a strong foul and disgusting smell invaded my nose, making me cover my nose with the sleeves of my pajamas.

"Is it just me, or do I smell something very disgusting in this room?" I asked, cringing at the smell.

Eventually, a flicker of light dawned upon us and the first thing we saw was a huge slobbering troll with a larger mace than the one that we tackled in Halloween.

My jaw opened in surprise when I saw how large the troll was, almost as tall as a two-storey house.

I immediately closed my mouth when I felt and somewhat tasted the taste of garbage in my tongue.

"Bloody hell..." Ron muttered nasally, as he was also pinching his nose.

When the troll set his eyes on us, he roared and raised his mace, ready to hit us with it.

"Move!" I yelled and ran out of the way to avoid the troll's attack.

The mace's impact caused a loud rumbling and crashing noise, making me wince and stare at the small crater that the troll made with it.

I click my tongue and removed my sleeve away from my nose, retrieving my wand from my pocket to try and damage it.

I've been practicing my stamina and new spells that I don't know before. I hope that I won't get tired this time.

"Lacarnum Inflamarae!" Hermione shouted, shooting out a small jet of fire towards the troll. It barely did any damage to him as he roared and raised it towards Hermione.

I was about to go and push her aside, but thank the heavens, she ran away in time.

Ron and Harry wasn't doing much, casting Aguamenti and Wingardium Leviosa to try and do some damage to it.

"Why is there are a giant troll in these chambers!? Are they really keen on trying to kill us!?" Ron screamed as he runs away from the troll's incoming attack while dragging Harry along with him.

"Just keep on attacking it! We need to tire him out somehow!" Hermione yelled and casted another spell.

I click my tongue and crouched down to ready myself with my wand held in my dominant hand.

"I'm not gonna embarrass myself this time." I muttered as I sprinted towards the troll, pointing my wand at him.

"Bombarda!" I cast as the spell hits the back of the troll with a loud boom echoing around the chamber. The troll roared in pain, turning around and narrowing his eyes at me.

" _uoy..._ " The troll spoke, which startled me for a moment. I stop, glaring at the disgusting creature with a scowl.

"Trolls can talk!?" I heard Ron scream from the other side of the room.

" _uoy hcta clli wi, mi htnio ppasi idt nowi._ " I scoff at his words and rolling my eyes in annoyance, crouching down again to ready myself.

"I don't understand a shit you just said, but not that I need to." I said. "I just need to kill you, that's all."

The troll grumbled and then roared, raising his mace and began to throw it in my direction.

When everything felt as if time has stopped and moved slowly, I quickly ran out of my previous spot when I saw him throwing the mace in my direction.

Dust collected around the spot where I was in as the troll ran over to it, making me laugh because of how stupid he was. I came up from behind him, pointing my wand at his large smelly feet.

"Glacius!" The troll's feet eventually turned into ice, immobilizing him and causing him to struggle. His struggle caused him to fall on his back and roar once again in pain.

I run over towards his face, pointing my wand at it. "Bombarda Maxima." A loud explosive sound echoed around the room as the troll groaned and rolled around in pain.

Dust began to settle around us, shielding me away from the trio as I sighed pointed my wand again.

"I should finish this as soon as possible. I'm tired of running around and chasing this disgusting shithead around the chamber." I shield my nose using my sleeve when the foul smell invaded my nose again.

It smells so much, I can't.

"Incarcerous." Thick ropes began to wrap itself around the troll's upper body tightly, making him groan and struggle to remove himself from the ropes and the Glacius I placed on his feet.

I climb up to his chest and walked over towards his neck, raising my wand as I looked down at the troll with cold (E/C) eyes.

"Diffindo." I swipe my wand down as a clean, yet deep cut came on the troll's face. He began to roar in pain as blood trickled down to his ears and to the nape of his neck.

I clicked my tongue and pointed my wand at his open mouth. "Bombarda." The troll immediately closed his mouth as another set of loud explosions has been released from the tip of my wand.

I could only squint my eyes to shield them away from the extremely harsh and blowing wind that's passing through my face.

I sigh and glanced over at the mace that the troll threw at me before pointing my wand at it.

"Wingardium Leviosa." The mace began to float, however, I struggled for a moment to keep it up as it was heavy and I haven't tried to levitate any heavy or large objects with this spell before.

When I got accustomed to its weight, I levitate it over towards the troll's face.

I stare at him for a moment, breathing ever so slowly as if I'm concentrating and taking in the pained expression that the large creature had on his face.

And then, I smiled as I felt something flash through my eyes for a brief moment.

I raise my wand, making the mace rise up as well. In an instant, I swipe my wand down to the troll's face.

A loud, sickening crunching sound was heard as the mace slammed itself hard on his face.

I exhale before raising my wand again and swiping it down, letting the mace slam down on his face again.

This time, the crunching sound was no longer as loud as it was a second ago.

Instead, I could only see the creature's nose flattened and his eyes almost bulging out of his sockets.

I continue to slam the mace down for a couple of times, not even realizing that I'm already going too far with torturing the troll.

However, it's not like I care about him in the first place.

I clicked my tongue once blood began to spray and splatter around my pajamas, sighing and looking over at the broken and smashed face of the troll.

His eyes weren't inside his sockets anymore as they hung limply on the sides of his head. His teeth were smashed and some had blood in them.

The rotting smell of blood and the troll's disgusting garbage scent made me scrunch my nose and cover it with my sleeve.

"Fucking disgusting." I turn away from the troll just as I heard rushing footsteps coming towards my way.

I carefully climb myself down from the troll's body and pocketed my wand away, pushing my hair back and taking small breaths to recollect myself from what just happened.

"(Y/N)!" Hermione was the first to rush over to me. A concerned expression spread across her face when she observed my slightly bloodied pajamas.

"That's..." She cringed but then shook her head. "Are you okay? The troll didn't do anything to you, did it?"

"No, I killed it before he tried to do anything to me." I answered nonchalantly while dusting off any dirt that I might've gotten on the upper part of my pajamas and my sleeves.

"Eugh, is that troll blood?" I heard Ron's disgusted voice as he walked up to me and scrunched his face at the lower part of my pajamas that have been stained by a filthy troll's blood.

"I might've gotten carried away, but it's better than letting it kill us." I shrugged with a sigh, looking over at the trio, who suddenly had surprised yet confused look on their faces. I raise my eyebrow.

"What?" I asked.

"Your eyes, (Y/N)." Harry gulped. "They're red."

"What?" I repeated and blinked at the response, looking down on the ground to try and figure out why my eyes are like this all of a sudden.

I do recall Alem mentioning something about me having red eyes, but it happened at the first night of school so I don't remember much.

Since I don't have any mirror to look at myself or any answers to answer my question, I sigh and walked past the trio.

"Maybe it's nothing that we should worry about; let's just keep going." I said dismissively.

"(Y/N), having red eyes isn't usually a good sign." Hermione piped up from behind me. "They say that transitioning to red eyes from your original eye color means that you are changing drastically... for the worse. As if you're not actually someone who you think you are."

"Hermione, I think I'm fine. The same thing happened to me at the first night in the castle, and nothing's happened to me so far." I sigh, now feeling annoyed that Hermione's trying to push the subject.

I hate discussing about personal things that I know I don't have the answer to yet, because I wouldn't know how to solve them if I did.

"I'm just telling you to be a bit more cautious, (Y/N)." Hermione said. I didn't respond and now, everyone is silent and isn't saying anything regarding of the subject matter.

"Anyway, I'm just glad that you're alright, (Y/N)." Harry smiled at me, though I can tell that it's a bit forced as he saw the blood on the lower half of my pajamas.

I could only shrug in response as Ron basically popped himself up in front of me.

"How did you manage to beat the troll!? Our spells weren't even doing anything to affect it!" Ron practically had stars in his blue eyes, which I found adorable.

I chuckled and watched as Hermione felt as if she was being stabbed when Ron said that their spells weren't even affecting the troll.

"Don't bother them too much." Harry sighed in annoyance, pulling Ron away from me before I could even reply to him.

The redhead whined but didn't say anything as we all walked over to the wooden door at the other end of the room.

Harry placed his hand on the handle and pulled it open. Making me quirk my eyebrow and thought why couldn't we just run over to the door if it was unlocked in the first place.

Just like this chamber before we stepped in, we couldn't really see anything in it. It was just pitch black.

However, as we stepped inside, light flooded the room to reveal an astonishing and familiar sight.

We were all standing on the edge of a huge chessboard. I looked around and saw that we were behind the black chessmen, and they were all taller than us and carved from a black unidentifiable stone.

I peered over from the black chessmen and shuddered when I saw the faceless white chessmen facing us in the distance.

"Now what do we do?" Harry whispered to us, not knowing what to do in this confusing state.

"Well, it's kind of obvious, isn't it?" I asked, tuning my head over to Ron, who smiled nervously as he observed the towering chessmen as if he was challenging them.

"We've got to play our way across the room." The redhead finished my sentence with a nod.

"How?" I saw Hermione gulp and hugged herself as she flickered her brown eyes over to the white chessmen.

"Judging from the chessmen and how we're literally in a chess board, I think this means that we're going to have to be chessmen." I whistled and flickered my eyes around the room to see if there's anything interesting.

When I heard footsteps walking over towards a black knight chessman, I brought my eyes back to the chess board and saw Ron reaching his hand out to touch the knight's horse.

My mouth slightly parted open when the stone sprang to life as the horse pawed the ground.

"When this is over, I might have to consider if this is actually real or just a weird fever dream that I have." I muttered, watching as the knight turned his helmeted head to look down at room.

"Do we - er - have to join you to get across?" Ron asked, unsure.

The black knight nodded, making the redhead sigh and turn to look at us with a finger placed on his chin, as if he's thinking deeply.

"Now, don't be offended or anything, but none of you are that good at chess-" Ron stopped abruptly as he turned to look at me. "Have you played chess before, (Y/N)?"

"I only know a bit of the rules." I shrugged.

"We're not offended." Harry said quickly as soon as I finished my sentence, taking a step forward as his impatience is beginning to show. "Just tell us what to do."

"Well, Harry, you can take place of that bishop." Ron pointed over at the bishop chessman and then pointed at the chessman next to it. "Hermione, you go next to him instead of that castle."

Ron finally brought his eyes back on mine, seemingly pondering for a moment before pointing at the queen piece.

"(Y/N), you can take the queen's place." Ron said. I didn't complain, but it does feel a bit odd to take the queen's place and it reminded me of that one chess scene in No Game No Life. I missed that anime.

"Well, what about you then?" Hermione asked as she walked over to the spot Ron told her to go.

"I'm going to be a knight." Ron said, determination flaring through his eyes as the chessmen that had their roles taken by us, looked at each other and nodded.

The knight, bishop, queen and a castle turned their backs on the white pieces and walked off the board, leaving four empty squares that we're going to fill in.

Harry and I walked over to our respective squares as the game had begun.

I felt a pit in my stomach as a white pawn had moved two squares forward, even though I know how this will end.

I observed Ron as he started to direct the black pieces. Of course, they obliged and silently moved wherever he wanted them to go.

"Harry, move diagonally four squares to the right." Ron snapped Harry out of his nervous thoughts and turned his head from left to right for a moment until he nodded as he processed Ron's words, doing what he was told.

After our team had made its move, the white queen has smashed our other black knight down to the floor, dragging him off the board, where he lay quite still and facedown.

I winced at the loud smashing sound the white queen made as I hugged myself as a way of comfort.

"Had to let that happen." Ron said, looking shaken for what he has done to the poor black knight. "However, it leaves you free to take that bishop, Hermione. Go on."

Hermione nodded and did what Ron told her to do. The game continued and the tensity of the game was enough to make me furrow my eyebrows and watch as the black pieces continued to be smashed down to the board and dragged away by one of the white pieces.

It doesn't help that the white pieces show no mercy whenever they take a black piece away from our team.

"Salazar, when Hermione said that this game is barbaric, she wasn't really lying." I winced and crossed my arms as another black piece was dragged away by a white piece.

"Wizard's chess always looks barbaric." Harry spoke, still shuddering. "I just hope that none of us will get hurt by this."

"Well, if sacrifices are needed, I think one of us have to." I sigh. "I mean, this is probably the most dangerous obstacle we've ever come across, besides that giant troll."

Harry didn't reply to my sentence, so I dragged my attention away from him and returned it to the redhead boy, who was the only one darting around the board and taking almost as many white pieces as they had lost black ones.

"We're nearly there." Ron said, turning his lips into a thin line as he began to think again.

Suddenly, the white queen turned her blank face towards him, seemingly ready to drag him off of the board if he a move.

"No, Ron!" Hermione exclaimed when she seemed to have caught the gist of the white queen.

"It's the only way - I've got to be taken." Ron said softly, making Hermione shake her head and watch the boy with a grave expression.

"Ron, don't you think that there's another way?" I asked, though I know that there's really none.

"You don't have to do this!" Hermione exclaimed again, but Ron snapped his head towards the brown haired female with an annoyed expression.

"That's chess!" The boy snapped. "You've got to make some sacrifices! I take one step forward and she'll take me - that leaves you free to checkmate the king, Harry!" He looked at the raven haired boy, who looked surprise, but didn't say anything about Ron sacrificing himself for us to progress,

which is odd.

Harry seems to be deep in thought as well, as if he's retreated back in his own mind.

"But-" Hermione said.

"Do you want to stop Snape or not?" Ron asked impatiently.

"Ron-" The girl started to speak again but was interrupted by the redhead once more.

"Look, if you don't hurry up, he'll already have the stone!" Ron sternly raised his voice, making me look over at Hermione, who had a frightened look on her face.

I feel bad that she got interrupted by Ron twice, and that's on the first word.

"Ready?" Ron called with his face paling due to his nervousness but he still seemed determined. "Here I go - now, don't hang around once you've won."

I gulped as Ron silently moved over to the spot where he was about to move to.

When Ron moved to the square, Hermione loudly gasped in horror before screaming as the white queen pounced, striking Ron hard across the head with her stone arm.

I glance over at Harry to see if he's responding to this, but he just seems to be staring at the scene that's happening with a deadpan look. Ron getting struck across the head, wasn't getting into him.

I purse my lips in confusion, but didn't dare to ask him as now was not the time.

Harry was supposed to be concerned for Ron or even tried to stop him as he moved on the board, but the raven haired boy didn't do any of that.

Just what the hell happened to their friendship? Did something change?

The white queen dragged Ron over to the side with blood trickling down from his forehead and Hermione was about to go after the redhead, but Harry suddenly called out to her. "Don't move!"

This made Hermione stop before she can even leave her spot. "Don't forget - we're still playing." Harry reminded as he took a deep breath and moved three spaces to the left.

The white king became stiff, almost crumbling as he took off his crown and threw it at Harry's feet.

They all sighed silently in relief when they realized that they'd won, as the chessmen parted and bowed, leaving the door ahead clear.

Hermione jogged over to Ron as soon as the game ended, while Harry and I walked over from behind her.

The brown haired girl stared at the boy with a grim expression, frowning as tears threatened to spill in the corner of her eyes.

"What if he's-?" Hermione asked nervously and looked up to us.

"He'll be fine, Hermione. I'm sure of it." I smile sadly at the girl. My attempt to comfort Hermione through my words was enough to make Hermione's lips curl up into a small smile as she looks back at Ron.

"You two go ahead," Hermione sniffled, wiping her tears from her eyes. "I'll make sure he's alright."

Harry and I stared at each other for a moment, until I moved my eyes away from him and back to Hermione.

"I understand, Hermione. We'll be back soon." I said, but I was immediately held by Harry by the hand.

"(Y/N), stay here with Hermione - it's too dangerous for you up ahead." He asked, worry lacing itself in the tone of his voice.

I roll my eyes and crossed my arms, having quite enough of Harry treating me as if I'm a child who needs protection all the time.

"I killed a giant troll just one room ago by myself. I think I can handle myself." I said while removing his hands away from mine. However, he tightened his grip as if he didn't want to let go.

"(Y/N), this is different; this is Snape we're talking about and Voldemort might just be with him. I can't risk you getting hurt." Harry said, with his pleading green eyes trying to convince me to not just go with him.

"You're probably out of your mind if you think I'm letting you face Voldemort alone, Potter." I scoff, not letting his pleads stop me from changing my mind. "If you can't risk _me_ getting hurt, then I also can't risk _you_ getting hurt."

Harry widened his eyes when I said those words, letting his grip on my hand loosen.

"Besides, I did make a promise to Hagrid to keep an eye out for all of you." I took this opportunity to slip my hand away from Harry's and crouch down to Hermione, who's still staring at Ron's unconscious form.

"Hermione, I want you to take Ron and grab brooms from the flying-key room. They'll be your ticket out of here. Go straight to the Owlery and send Hedwig or Garrett to Dumbledore to let him know what's going on." I instructed, making Hermione nod but she still looked somewhat confused.

"Who's Garrett?" She asked.

"That's Alem's owl." I replied with a shrug. "I think Alem will understand if we use him. He kinda knows that we're sneaking out tonight anyway."

"But (Y/N)-" I stand up once Harry began to speak again. I face the raven haired Gryffindor with a stern look on my face.

"I am not letting you go out there alone." I said, dismissively. Not letting Harry continue his sentence as he's probably going to convince me to not follow him again.

I've made up my mind - I am going with him.

"You can do it, Hermione." I look back down at the brown haired girl, who nodded again, but this time, she looked determined. She stood up and threw her arms around the two of us, pulling us in a hug.

"H-Hermione..." I blushed when I realized how close she was getting, and I can smell her flowery and strawberry-ish scent.

"Harry, (Y/N) - you two are great wizards, you know." She whispered gently, making me blush even more.

Salazar, I shouldn't have to blush so much around Hermione when she gets too close!

"I-I'm not as good as you..." I stuttered, lowering my face and practically burying myself in her arms out of embarrassment.

"Neither am I..." Harry replied, sounding a bit bashful due to Hermione's sudden closeness.

"Me?" Hermione scoffed as she pulled away, smirking playfully at us. "Books and cleverness? Oh, there are more important things."

"Friendship," She turned to look at me with a gentle smile.

"and bravery." She turned to look at Harry.

"Are you sure that you're not meant to be a Gryffindor, (Y/N)?" Hermione playfully asked while I snorted, placing both of my hands in behind the back of my head.

"Well, the sorting hat never lies. I might be in Slytherin for a reason." I smirk at the brown haired girl, who giggled and crouched down to help Ron up.

"Please do be careful. I won't be able to forgive myself if you two end up like Ron." She frowned, while I just gave her a thumbs up.

"Don't worry, Hermione. Harry and I both have each other to kick Voldemort's ass." The girl rolled her eyes before waving and walking away while supporting Ron with her shoulder.

We watched as the two opened the door to where the giant troll was until it closed, letting the two disappear from our line of sight.

"Well, should we get moving?" I look over at Harry, who blushed for a moment and brought his hand up. I stare at his hand for a moment, not understanding what he's trying to say.

"Could you..." He breathed for a moment before continuing. "Could you hold my hand as we go?"

I almost flipped when he asked that. It feels awkward, now that he's not being so subtle with his feelings now, but I obliged anyway since I didn't want to be rude by turning him down.

Besides, we're about to face Voldemort so I should cut him some slack.

I gently intertwine my hands with his and watched as Harry's face seemed to have exploded in red. Not gonna lie, even I thought it was adorable, seeing Harry's face become red.

Maybe there's really nothing bad with having this boy like me. I mean, nothing bad would really happen, right?

"Let's go." I chuckle and led him towards the door. We were both silent and I took a deep breath, placing my hand over at the handle.

What I didn't expect was Harry placing his hand on the handle as well.

I look over at him and nodded. He nodded back as we pulled the door open, revealing a dark and damp passageway. I take a deep breath before I start walking while holding hands with Harry.

He hasn't said a word, but I'm a bit glad that he hasn't since this will probably make it more awkward than it already is.

Light became visible at the end of the passageway, and the nearer we get, the more my nerves start to kick in.

I really hope that I'm not going to die at the end of my first year during this encounter. It will seriously suck if I do.

Once we've reached the end of the passageway, Harry's mouth parted open in surprise while I'm just grumbling nervously, hoping that this half-baked plan of mine will work on those two.

Quirrell stood idly in front of a familiar mirror, the Mirror of Erised. I felt Harry's grip in my hand tighten, but I didn't say anything as he took a step forward.

"You!" Harry gasped in disbelief. Making Quirrell turn around with an eerie smile creeping up on his face. He wasn't acting as the Quirrell that the trio used to know,

_**This is the real Quirrell.** _

"Me," The DADA teacher said calmly. "I wondered whether I'd be meeting you here, Potter."

He then turned to look at me, his smile only growing wider but a scowl was still quite visible on his face when he did so. Apparently, I piss him off too much.

"And of course, our _dear_ runaway (Y/N)." He bows down, making me roll my eyes in annoyance since he called me a runaway. "Fancy meeting you here - I was sure that you would've died on the room where the giant troll was in."

"Well, try again because your troll isn't strong enough to hold me down." I growl at the man.

"Clearly." His eyes landed down on the bottom half of my pajama, where the splattered dried blood of the troll was in. "Astonishing red eyes, dear (Y/N)."

Quirrell complimented, but I didn't respond as I only wanted to kick him right in the stomach, and he probably didn't even mean that compliment. This red eyes must be his doing as well.

"Well, now that the two main stars of the night are here; _shall we start?_ " Quirrell's eyes glinted dangerously in the dark, while Harry was still shaking in disbelief beside me.

I narrow my eyes at the DADA teacher, and brought my eyes at the turban he was wearing. Voldemort was listening, that's for sure.

Harry is still trying to recover from the shock, and the first year is about to end.

I sigh and glanced over at Harry, sighing softly as I have to make sure that he won't take much damage in this encounter. I promised Hagrid that I'd look out for him.

 _'It's time to change things tonight, (Y/N) Rosewood'_ I thought as I brought my hand to my pocket where the apple sat comfortably in for the last few hours.

_'Let's just hope this works'_

**»»----- ♡ -----««**

**A/N:**

**ok so like, this reached 18k words lmao I'm dead as I've been writing for five days straight for this chapter.**

**I'm terribly sorry for the delay. I've been getting a bit busy with organizing my application for my new school in online classes. I hope you understand.**

**I'm just glad that they moved it to October 5th, so yay more time to write lmao**

**Speaking of writing, the next chapter is the final chapter for the first year. Honestly, I can't even believe that we've made it through the first year. I was sure that no one would read this fanfic and I'd drop it midway to start a new one-**

**There will be hints sprinkled in the next chapter to give you an insight of what happens in the second year. Mostly because I'm excited for the ideas and everything that will happen in the second year and I've already outlined it-**

***cough* Tom Riddle *cough***

***cough* a Hufflepuff who we've never actually met before *cough***

***cough* Alem *cough***

**Okay now I'm just straight up spilling the hints bUT I CANT HELP IT ALRIGHT REEEEEE it's up to you to find out what those mean tho :V**

**By the way, you might've missed something in this chapter but I'm not telling you what because that'll ruin the mystery.**

**Anyway, I have nothing else to say except thank you for helping me get this far and I hope you stick around for the final chapter of the first year!**

**I'll see you guys very soon!**


	20. I - XVIII:「The End of the Beginning」

**❝You can't blame me for loving you unconditionally, my love❞**

**»»----- ♡ -----««**

(Y/N) and Quirrell stood in the trophy room, facing each other. The Rosewood felt tense and nervous, but they didn't want to show it, especially in front of the man who has the dark lord at the back of his head.

Instead, (Y/N) grumbled silently and pulled up the note that he gave them this afternoon to start the conversation.

"How nice of you to invite me all the way here, sir." (Y/N)'s words made Quirrell smirk, letting all of the nervous and stuttering self that he faked in front of everyone disappear in a flash.

"Of course, my master and I would like to discuss this privately." The professor placed his hands behind his back, eyeing the Rosewood with a glint in his eyes.

"Could just invite me for dinner, but you do you. I guess." (Y/N) shrugged while observing the room, trying to keep their eyes away from the professor as much as they could.

They still felt nervous, and thought that this is most likely a bad idea.

"Let's get down to business, dear (Y/N)." Quirrell said, making the twin place all of their attention on him with a curious look in their eyes. "I assume you've taken interest in cooperating with us after reading the letter?"

This made (Y/N) scoff and roll their eyes, crossing their arms while leaning on a wall.

"Before I answer your ridiculous question, how did you and no nosed freak over there, know about me?" They nod over towards the turban that Quirrell wore. The professor laughed almost as sweet as honey of lies dripping from his lips.

"Let's just say that a child who has quite the sweet tooth, came over and warned us about you." He began to walk around the room slowly, his soft footsteps echoing gently around the room.

Quirrell never left his eyes from (Y/N) as he did this, and it only increased the tension around (Y/N)'s body. "You and your... ability of knowing everything that happens- the fate of everyone."

"Of course, my master and I are... intrigued," Quirrell stopped, smiling sweetly at the a Rosewood. "and we would like you to come and join us in our side."

"And what makes you think that I'll cooperate and join you?" (Y/N) tilted their head to the side, almost finding Quirrell's words to be amusing and ridiculous at the same time.

"Well, as of now, we are the only ones who know about your... otherworldly existence." His words made (Y/N) purse their lips and glare at him with a cold look since he's most likely aware that they are actually older than 11 years old. "Of course, you wouldn't want to expose yourself and get into more trouble now, would you?"

"So you're basically just threatening to expose me in front of everyone if I don't cooperate with you?" (Y/N) scoffs and smiles sarcastically at the older man. "You're not really giving me enough of a choice here, are you?"

"Oh, rest assured - we are just and fair when it comes to discussing matters like these." (Y/N) rolled their eyes at this, knowing well enough that Quirrell will most likely force them to join their side if they refuse.

It wouldn't even be a discussion anymore.

"We're not just people who make empty threats and not give the other side of the coin a choice." Quirrell added while making a close-eyed smile.

" _So, shall I propose a deal?_ " The man opened his eyes softly, revealing a look that clearly says that he is plotting something mischievous.

(Y/N) almost shuddered when they saw how his eyes glinted and seemingly glowed in the dark, giving Quirrell a dangerous aura around him. The fact that the dark lord is right on the back of his head doesn't help.

"Which is?" (Y/N) shook their head to shake away the fear that they had for a few seconds.

"You will lend us your knowledge about everyone's fate and every outcome that is about to come, so we would plan ahead and ensure our victory." Quirrell clapped his hands with glee. "Your existence will remain as a secret, your protection from any harm will be ensured, and you will be able to rise as the master's trusty advisor, even at your... changed age." He trailed off in the last part of his sentence, eyeing (Y/N)'s small eleven year old form.

"You know, there's really a bunch of problems with your proposal, Quirrell." (Y/N) sighed. "Of course my existence will be remained as a secret if I cooperate with you; Dumbledore and The Order will most likely try to take me if they ever know about me."

"It's most likely that you and the Death Eaters will ensure my safety as I am your trump card - I know what happens, and I can help you plan ahead. If I get injured, to the point of being unable to work for you, it will _surely_ damage your side." The Rosewood leaned away from the wall and began to walk around the trophy room with their hand behind their back.

"And of course, the 'promotion' type of agreement - of course, I get to be the 'trusty advisor'; I am singlehandedly the most useful person in your group. That's a no brainer right there." A chuckle escaped their lips as they finally faced Quirrell, who only narrowed his eyes at how easily (Y/N) caught onto him.

"There are other problems as well, such as; being hunted down by the Ministry, being shunned out of my own family _and_ being considered as a traitor to everyone in Britain." (Y/N) brought their hand up and ticked off three fingers, listing every negative things that Quirrell's proposal will bring.

"Why should that matter, dear?" Quirrell quirked an eyebrow up as he scoffed in amusement. "Friends and family are not important; power is absolute, and like I said; your safety will be ensured. The Ministry will not be able to lay a hand on you."

"Erised might have forgotten to mention this, but I did not come here in this world to chase power and act as the villain or work with your 'master'." (Y/N) pointed accusingly at Quirrell with a smirk curling up in the corner of their lips. "And since I prefer to take the easy route, there's nothing easier than being the same (Y/N) as I am right now; the Ministry will not lay a hand on me as long as I'm good."

"Your objective is different from mine. I have a different route to follow." The Rosewood crumpled the paper that Quirrell gave them this afternoon and threw it at his feet, shooting the DADA teacher a gentle smile that's almost in a mocking manner. "So no, I will not accept your offer, although it was my intention to reject you in the first place."

Quirrell's fists tightened in anger when he saw how conceited and cocky (Y/N) seemed to be, just because they know everything that's going to happen.

However, he had to remain calm and not lose his temper, especially when Voldemort is listening to their conversation right now.

"Well, it seems that I don't understand what you mean by that, Rosewood." Quirrell lets out a small shaky laugh as he said that.

"Should I make it more clear for you, then?" (Y/N) removed their hands from behind their head and crossed their arms instead, almost making them feel a bit more confident.

"I want you, and Voldemort to _fuck off._ " (Y/N) smiled gently again, but their glinting (E/C) eyes were half-lidded, making it seem like they're looking down at Quirrell for his attempts to bring them over to his side. "I've no intention to join your 'bad guy' squad."

"I will not tolerate any disrespect towards my master, you insolent and foul-" Quirrell growled, stomping over to (Y/N) with his fists tightened and teeth clenched.

He immediately stopped in his tracks when he saw the tip of (Y/N)'s wand on his jugular.

"Just try to lay your hand on me, Quirrell." The Rosewood wasn't smiling anymore. Instead, they were sneering at the DADA teacher with widened yet intimidating (E/C) eyes. "Despite my small form, I will _not hesitate_ to send you flying across the room with spells that I've already known."

Quirrell clicked his tongue and took a couple of steps away from (Y/N), and arranged his clothes as he did so.

"Well, it seems that I will have to tell everyone who and what you are." Quirrell scoffed. "Are you sure that your brother and Potter will appreciate you lying to them?"

"All things considered, I think _you_ are the one who should be sure if you were to expose my identity." They tut their wand towards Quirrell's direction. "You see, I'm not the _only one_ who's hiding my identity right now."

The teacher felt like something was stuck in his throat when (Y/N) said that. He had completely forgotten that they know about Quirrell and Voldemort's motives and intentions in this school.

"So, if you were to tell the whole castle that I'm an alien from a different universe who knows about everything that happens, I will _also_ expose you for who you actually are." (Y/N) said as they pocketed their wand. "What happens, when Dumbledore _and_ the other professors, along with Harry, realizes that your master is being hidden right underneath your turban?"

When (Y/N) saw how troubled Quirrell was, and how he was backed into a corner. They smirk in victory, but they immediately removed the smirk away from their face so they wouldn't piss Quirrell any further.

"Yeah, I feel you." They suck in a breath through heir teeth, showing Quirrell a wincing expression. "So for both side's sake, _try_ to keep your pretty mouth _shut_ , sir."

A childlike smile crept its way up to their lips. Although, one could easily say that (Y/N) seems like a very innocent eleven year old with no intentions to bring anyone harm or to deceive them with their smile, Quirrell had to remind himself that this 'child' is actually eighteen.

They have seen how horrible and chaotic the world really is.

How unfair and unjust it is.

(Y/N) lived through it for eighteen years.

They surely know a thing or two about how to fuck up someone's life, and mean it.

"If you're trying to prove yourself and show that you are not as weak as you are, then you have chosen the wrong path, Rosewood." Quirrell spoke after a few seconds of silence and stared at (Y/N) with cold, frustrated eyes.

"No matter how well you do in your studies,"

_Young_ _Quirrell_ _watched as the bullies threw his parchments that had results from his last quizzes, like Charms and Transfiguration. He begged them to stop, and that those results were important, but his begs were unheard by no one as he watched the parchments being torn in half in seconds._

"No matter how skilled you are in magic,"

_Devilish laughs echoed around Young_ _Quirrell's_ _mind as he tries to focus his wand on the students that caused him so much pain and humiliation. However, the more the bullies cast their hexes and jinxes on him, the more blurry the Ravenclaw's vision gets. He might think that it's because he's on the verge of passing out._

_But, he never realized that they were warm tears._

"If people see the tiniest bit of flaw in you, they will focus on that alone." The DADA teacher put up a bitter smile, almost out of pity for (Y/N)'s naivety. "You are not free."

(Y/N), of course, was aware of Quirrell's past and how he was wrongly treated by his peers.

They knew that; despite being in Ravenclaw, he's not very knowledgeable when it comes to dealing with bullies.

However, it was not the time to pity their DADA teacher. They knew that there's no way of saving the man if he's gone off to the dark side and became entranced by it.

"We both have different opinions of what a 'wrong path' is, Quirrell." (Y/N)'s smile became gentle but remained prominent on their face. "You chose to sought after Voldemort to prove yourself worthy and rub your discovery to the bullies who have ridiculed you for years. It wasn't long until you actually joined him, right after he's opened your eyes about how there is no good or there is no evil."

Quirrell felt unease crawl in his nerves when he realized that (Y/N) also knew his past. The past that he desperately wanted to bury in the depths on his mind.

"Unfortunately, even though I could somehow sympathize with your situation, I chose a different path to walk on." The Rosewood leaned on the wall again, crossing their arms while looking on the ground with a smile. "I've hope, and that hope built trust and friendship to turn my negatives into positives."

"I have Alem, Harry, Hermione, Draco and Ron and they are people who I've placed my faith in, despite them acting fairly mean to me at some point." (Y/N) raised their heads to meet Quirrell's troubled eyes. "They won't describe me based on my flaws alone."

"Oh, and why do you think so?" Quirrell asked, a tone of disbelief and ridicule becoming subtly visible in his voice.

"Because I trust them, professor." (Y/N) said, making the teacher sneer as he couldn't understand why this child could still remain to be this... naive, despite being exposed to the horrible reality of the world.

Quirrell, frustrated and confused, left the room without saying anything. (Y/N) sighed in relief when they managed to have a 'discussion' with Quirrell unscathed.

However, now they had to worry about the four meddling Gryffindors that seemed to be standing outside the door.

»»----- ♡ -----««

Harry was in disbelief - he didn't want to accept the fact that the mastermind was Quirrell all along.

He also found it weird yet surprising that (Y/N) was right about accusing Quirrell, even though there were many 'evidences' that will make them turn to Snape.

Of course he knows that they're smart, but they can't be that smart to think ahead.

 _'Did (Y/N) already know?'_ Harry thought, stealing a doubtful side glance from the Rosewood beside him. He shook his head and looked back at Quirrell in frustration. _'No, I shouldn't doubt them - if they knew everything, they would've already told me.'_

"Ah, Potter. You seem to be doubting our cherry-eyed Slytherin over here." Quirrell's voice was sweet and mocking, yet it was somewhat filled with venom as he turned to look at (Y/N), who looked concerned and troubled as they didn't want Harry to find out their identity so soon.

"I'm assuming that they must've done quite... a lot of things that made you think, 'ah, how did they know that?'" Quirrell ended his sentence with a laugh. Harry looked back at (Y/N), who looked troubled.

This was enough for Harry to know that there is something going on with the (H/C) haired Slytherin, however, he shook those thoughts away as he tightened his grip on (Y/N)'s hand.

"This isn't about (Y/N) - stop changing the subject, you traitor." Harry scowled at the DADA teacher, who was taken aback from his words.

"I trusted you - I thought Snape was the one who was behind this all along!" The Gryffindor raised his voice in frustration, making (Y/N) a bit startled.

"Severus?" Quirrell's composure returned, laughing at Harry's assumption. "Yes, Severus does seem the type, doesn't he? So useful to have him swooping around like an overgrown bat."

"Next to him, who would suspect p-p-poor st-stuttering Professor Quirrell?" The teacher mocked his 'stuttering' act that he put up around the students, batting his eyelashes innocently at the two students in front of him.

"(Y/N), apparently - and they were right!" Harry frowned, looking down in shame. "If only I had placed every single inch of my trust on them, you would've been caught!"

"Oh, I really wouldn't recommend that, Harry." Quirrell laughed, while (Y/N) only pursed their lips and hoped that the teacher would shut up.

"If it's you, then why did Snape try to kill me during my Quidditch match against Slytherin!?" Harry ignored Quirrell's words as he was only fueled by disbelief and anger for his DADA teacher.

"No, no, no, boy. _I_ tried to kill you." Quirrell said, narrowing his eyes at Harry. "That _meddling snake_ had gone and rushed to fire to my robe while I was unaware of my surroundings. I broke my eye contact with you."

Quirrell bitterly turned his head towards (Y/N) for a brief moment, before returning it back to the disbelieved Harry.

The boy couldn't believe what he was hearing right now - had he been so easily tricked by the professor, who he thought was the bravest for standing up to Snape?

"Another few seconds and I'd have gotten you off of your broom. I'd have managed it before then if Snape hadn't been muttering a counter curse to save you." The DADA teacher added.

"Snape was trying to save me?" Harry shakily said as he held his head down.

"Of course," Quirrell said coolly. "Why do you think he wanted to referee your match? He was trying to make sure that I wouldn't do it again. Funny, really - he shouldn't have bothered."

"Because you can't do anything, especially when Dumbledore is watching." (Y/N) scoffed as they crossed their arms.

"Right you are, (Y/N)." The teacher muttered grimly at the (H/C) haired Slytherin.

"All the other teachers thought that Snape was trying to keep Gryffindor from winning. He did make himself unpopular... and what a waste of time," Quirrell shook his head sadly as he raised his hand. "when after all that, I'm going to _kill_ you two tonight."

The teacher snapped his fingers, and in a blink of an eye, ropes sprang out of thin air and wrapped themselves tightly around Harry and (Y/N).

The two students began to struggle under the tight grip of the ropes, but they didn't seem to budge.

"My original objective is to dispose you only, Potter. However, as (Y/N) has deemed themselves as a threat to us, it has come to my attention that I have to dispose them as well." Quirrell smiled at Harry.

When the raven haired boy heard this, his green eyes widened in both fear and surprise as he growled and struggled against the ropes even further.

"You-!" Harry's facial expression resembled that of a rabid dog, who had escaped its leash and is now ready to bear his fangs against anyone. "Don't bring (Y/N) into this - they've done nothing wrong!"

"I'm the one that you want!" Harry added, now shouting angrily. Quirrell tutted while shaking his head disapprovingly of how animalistic Harry is acting.

(Y/N) could only look at Harry in surprise, as they didn't expect him to act like this just because Quirrell said that he'd kill them.

"Boy, if our dear snake hasn't done anything wrong, I wouldn't even tie them up right now." The teacher rolled his eyes in annoyance. "They are a threat that must be eliminated."

"And you, Potter, is too noisy to live. Scurrying around the school on Halloween like that." Quirrell added. "For all I knew, you'd seen me coming to look at what was guarding the stone."

"You let the troll in?" Harry's jaw was basically dropping at this point.

"Certainly. I have a special gift in trolls - you must have seen what I did to the one in the chamber back there?" Quirrell stopped until his expression became bitter again. "Of course, _until_ (Y/N) killed it."

"Why do you sound so salty just because I killed your troll?" (Y/N) decided to speak up after a while of just watching Harry and Quirrell converse with each other. "It was speaking in some weird troll language I didn't know existed too. Did you teach it to speak or something?"

"Like I said, I have a special gift in trolls, and I can definitely unleash their inner potentials to be... better than just brainless creatures who can't speak." Quirrell said. "Of course, I had ordered the one, who your brother defeated, to catch you so I can kill you myself in the shadows. While the one in the chamber, who you killed, was ordered to catch you and kill you directly, if possible."

"Speaking of which, I find it quite troublesome that the Rosewood twins were the ones who... defeated both of my trolls." The teacher added. "You and your brother seem to be... inseparable, and quite dangerous if you were to unleash your magic potential."

"I have seen it in Mr. Rosewood; the way he can strategize and think clearly without having emotions to mess his logical mind." Quirrell remembered back to how calm and composed Alem was when he turned the teacher's Aguamenti into a clear block of ice, without the horrible side effects of the spell acting up.

"You, however, are not as strategic and composed as your brother, but you _certainly_ have a skill when it comes to reflexes and quite a destructive amount of magic in you, judging from how you killed my troll." He then, remembered back to how (Y/N) managed to freeze his Aguamenti before it even left his area of vicinity, and how they were able to cast protective charms and counter spells for his spells before one could even see what they were.

"Which is odd, considering how you possessed a below average of magic power in you during your flying lessons." Quirrell quirked an eyebrow up in confusion. "Those red eyes must be the cause, but I suppose you don't know what they are supposed to be either."

"You're quite the stalker aren't you, you Barney the Dinosaur rip-off?" (Y/N) rolled their eyes. "If you were so obsessed with me, you should've said so."

Quirrell gave (Y/N) a scowl again, but remained his composure as he took a deep breath and turned around to face the mirror of Erised.

"Wait quietly, you two. I need to examine this mirror." Quirrell said, and Harry's face lit up in realization when he saw that it was the mirror of Erised that Quirrell was standing in front on.

"(Y/N)," Harry leaned closer to (Y/N), his voice barely above a whisper. "That mirror; it's the mirror of Erised. Dumbledore must've moved it here when he saw me- _us_ , finding its whereabouts."

(Y/N) noticed how Harry immediately corrected himself, but didn't talk about it as this was no time to confront Harry about how he basically lied to (Y/N) about not returning to the mirror every night.

To the Slytherin, it's quite irrelevant now, all things considered.

"If Dumbledore moved it here, then the chances of it being important is high." (Y/N) responds. "Don't you think that the stone might be in the mirror?"

Harry thought deeply; the possibility isn't too far off, and it's quite plausible. Then again, how is the mirror hiding the stone?

He shook his head as that question will soon be answered. Harry had to keep talking to stall time and keep his attention away from the mirror, and hopefully figure out a way to get out safely with (Y/N).

"We saw you and Snape in the forest and in the hallways." Harry blurted out.

"Yes," Quirrell said, idly as he circled the mirror. "He was on to me at that time, trying to find out how far I'd get. It was quite annoying to have him confront me twice, and he wouldn't let me out of his sight."

"He suspected me all along; tried to frighten me - as though he could, when I had Lord Voldemort on my side..." Quirrell chuckled as he remembered how Snape threatened him; he seemed too desperate to catch the man who he thinks is the culprit.

"Now, I see myself presenting the stone to my master... but, how do I get it?" Quirrell came back out from behind the mirror as he stared hungrily at it.

"But, Snape always seemed to hate me so much." Harry spoke, trying his hardest to keep the teacher's attention away from the mirror.

"Don't worry, Harry; I've annoyed _and_ kept him uncomfortable so many times." (Y/N) said, trying to lighten up the mood. "I think he dislikes me, just as much he dislikes you."

"You might find it surprising to know that Snape seems to have grown a soft spot when it comes to you, Rosewood." Quirrell responds to (Y/N)'s words. "Oh yes, I could see how his stare lingers on you for a moment before going back to what he was doing."

"I've seen that look before; it's the look of nostalgia." He added, making (Y/N)'s face scrunch up in confusion. They couldn't believe that Snape would grow soft on them, there's just no way.

Of course, they noticed the stares, but they always thought that it was only because he was ready to whoop (Y/N) back to the real world when they're going to do something wrong.

"Oh, and he _does_ hate you, Potter." Quirrell said casually, turning his attention to Harry for a brief moment. "Heavens, yes. He was at Hogwarts with your father, didn't you know? They loathed each other, but he never wanted you dead."

While Harry wanted to ask more about Snape and his father's treated each other when they were in Hogwarts, he needed to keep the questions to himself first and put his mind to the present.

"But, I heard you a few days ago, sobbing - I thought Snape was threatening you!" Harry exclaimed as (Y/N) turned to look at him, confused.

"He was sobbing? I mean, I expected him to, but when did that happen?" They asked, leaning closer to Harry.

"You weren't there when it happened, (Y/N)." Harry answered briefly as he kept his green eyes on Quirrell.

The two couldn't miss the expression that the teacher made after Harry asked that question; a spasm of fear flitted across Quirrell's face.

"Sometimes," He said with a gulp, "I find it hard to follow my master's instructions - he is a great wizard and I am weak-"

"You mean he was there in the classroom with you?" Harry gasped and cut him off.

"He is with me _wherever_ I go," said Quirrell quietly. "I met him when I traveled around the world. A foolish young man I was then, full of ridiculous ideas about good and evil. Lord Voldemort showed me how wrong I was. There is no good and evil, there is only _power_ , and those too weak to seek it..."

He stole a glance towards (Y/N)'s way, as he remembered the conversation that they had in the trophy room.

"Since then, I have served him faithfully, although I have let him down many times. He had to be very hard on me." Quirrell shivered suddenly. "He does not forgive mistakes easily. When I failed to steal the Stone from Gringotts, he was most displeased. It only increased when I failed to bring (Y/N) on our side; that meddling, deceitful snake."

(Y/N) didn't say anything and could only roll their eyes when Quirrell's voice was full of venom and spite for them.

"Bring (Y/N) to your side? What do you mean?" Harry looked back and forth at the Slytherin and the teacher.

"You see, Potter, dear (Y/N) here is-"

"He tried to get me to his side because he believed the rumors about me being a seer." (Y/N) said quickly, cutting Quirrell off as a sweat dropped from their forehead. "Which is stupid, because I can't really see the future."

Quirrell smirks devilishly as he seemed to back (Y/N) into a corner. He could definitely use this to his advantage, while (Y/N) was shooting Quirrell the deadliest death glare they could muster.

 _'This bastard. He doesn't have anything to hide now.'_ They thought spitefully.

Harry, of course, believed (Y/N). As stupid as it seems. He didn't want to doubt them any longer.

After all, what kind of a person would he be if he didn't trust his crush?

"I don't understand... is the stone _inside_ the mirror? Should I _break_ it?" Quirrell shook his head when he realized that he was taking up too much time, and looked back at the mirror thoughtfully.

Harry's mind was racing, and so did (Y/N)'s.

(Y/N) was waiting for the right moment to strike, while crossing their fingers that Quirrell and Voldemort is too dumb to fall in their trap for their plan to work.

Harry was grumbling and trying to find a solution to save (Y/N) and take the stone away from Quirrell.

 _'What I want more than anything else in the world at the moment,'_ he thought, _'is to find the Stone before_ _Quirrell_ _does, while (Y/N) and I run off safely. So if I look in the mirror, I should see myself finding it - which means I'll see where it's hidden. But, how can I look without_ _Quirrell_ _realizing_ _what I'm up to?'_

He tried to edge to the left, to get in front of the glass without Quirrell noticing, but the ropes around his ankles were too tight; he tripped and fell over with a thud.

Quirrell ignored him and continued to talk to himself and observing the mirror thoughtfully.

"Harry, what are you doing?" (Y/N) almost laughed when they saw how Harry fell over, but held it in with a small smile. Harry glanced up at the Slytherin,

"(Y/N), the mirror." Harry winced as he tried to get up, and failed. "The stone... you can find it by looking at the mirror."

They thought that it's not a good idea to do that, as their desire right now doesn't lie with wanting to find the stone.

No, they just want their plan to work, if Quirrell is dumb enough to make that happen.

"Come on, get up." (Y/N) ignored Harry's words as they try to scurry over to him without falling over.

Harry struggled as he tried to lean on (Y/N) for support, all while taking this moment to smell them and feel their skin.

It took the Slytherin a while to bring Harry back up on his feet, but it certainly wasn't easy. Harry seemed a bit too heavy for (Y/N)'s own good.

"What does this mirror do? How does it work? _Help me_ , master!" Quirrell exclaimed, now desperate to fulfill his master's wishes.

The two students turned their attention back to the teacher, their eyes narrowing nervously.

"Use the boy... Use the boy..." Harry's breath hitched when he heard a hoarse and scratchy voice coming from Quirrell, even though his mouth isn't moving.

"Yes, Potter - come here." Quirrell clapped his hand once, and all of a sudden, the ropes that bound him loosened. He felt like he can move freely again.

(Y/N) was still bound by the ropes, however. They weren't free just yet.

"(Y-Y/N)..." Harry stumbled up to his feet and scrambled over to (Y/N) to help them pry off the ropes.

"That boy..." Quirrell growled and stomped towards the two, roughly dragging Harry away from (Y/N).

The boy winced in pain as Quirrell's grip on his wrist was too tight, almost as if he was cutting off the blood circulation in his hand.

"Hey, don't drag him off like that; you're hurting him!" (Y/N) exclaimed as they took notice of Harry's discomfort. They could only watch as Quirrell roughly made him stand in front of the mirror.

"Be quiet, (Y/N). I shall deal with you later." Quirrell briefly told (Y/N) before turning his attention back on Harry, placing his hands on the boy's shoulders and peeking over to the mirror himself.

While Quirrell was asking Harry about what he sees in the mirror, (Y/N) struggled and slipped their feet out of their slippers, using the soles of their feet to pull the rope binding their wrist downwards.

They grunted when let out a sigh of exhaustion when they failed.

They bring their wrists up to their face and saw that tints of red were now visible, and they were starting to burn and hurt as well.

"Fuck." They hissed and brought their wrists down, flicking their eyes over to Harry, who is now walking towards (Y/N) with a mortified expression on his face.

They were about to ask him what's wrong, until Quirrell interrupted them.

"Potter, come back here!" Quirrell shouted while Harry stopped in his tracks, facing the teacher with the same mortified look. "Tell me the truth; what did you just see!?"

"Let me speak to him... face-to-face..." The hoarse voice returned.

"Master, you are not strong enough." Quirrell's voice became almost gentle, but the stern and strict tone that he had remained.

(Y/N) took a deep breath and tried to make themselves comfortable in their spot, despite being tied up.

"I have enough strength... for this..." The voice responded, and Quirrell remained silent for a moment before bringing his hands up to his turban.

Harry and (Y/N) shot each other looks and then looked back at Quirrell, who had now unraveled the turban from his head.

Slowly, Quirrell turned around to reveal the strange, monstrous pressed face on the back of the DADA teacher's head.

It was Voldemort, the same monster who had been responsible for James and Lily Potter's deaths.

His nose resembled like the nose slits of a snake, almost making him look like he doesn't have a nose at all.

The strangely small yet sharp teeth and the angry expression that Voldemort made was enough to render the two speechless, but for different reasons;

Harry was the most surprised and shocked; he couldn't move a single muscle, nor speak at all.

How could he speak up when the monster who murdered his parents was right in front of him?

(Y/N) was nervous, as it was their first time meeting Voldemort for real. They don't know what to do or what to say.

It doesn't help that their first impression with Voldemort is when they try to paralyze him and Quirrell, so the teacher would be caught by Dumbledore

"Harry Potter..." Voldemort greeted with a scowl, before his red eyes flickered over towards the nervous (Y/N). "and (Y/N) Rosewood..."

"It is nice to finally meet you in personal." Voldemort smiled creepily at (Y/N).

"Quirrell, release them." Voldemort said. "It is not good manners to treat our guest like this." With that order, the DADA teacher reluctantly clapped his hand once, making the ropes that bounded (Y/N) loosen and fall to the ground.

When the Rosewood can move freely again, they slowly stood up and flicked their wrists while rubbing it gently to soothe the burns that they acquired from trying to escape the ropes.

"...Thanks?" They scrunched their face in discomfort as they kept rubbing their wrists. "I don't think the feelings are mutual, though."

"It's quite a shame that we are both not on the same side." The dark lord's tone of voice seemed to be fake, as he tried to hide his anger for (Y/N), since they did decline his offer. "We truly could have accomplished greater things..."

"We could - the main problem is that I'm not like you." (Y/N) shrugged their shoulders nonchalantly while crossing their arms.

"You might think that you're not, but you are." Voldemort smiled again, and it only seemed to widen when he saw how (Y/N) looked so confused and uncomfortable at the same time. "Well, ignorance is bliss."

When the Rosewood heard this, they rolled their eyes in annoyance and glared at the dark lord.

"I have a body and a nose - you don't." (Y/N) scoffed. "So yes, I really am not like you."

Voldemort's red eyes narrowed, and his anger started to boil that even the room temperature started to get warm. (Y/N) noticed this and started to feel a bit worried for making that offensive joke.

"You little-" Quirrell seethed through his teeth.

"Stand down, Quirrell." Voldemort interrupted, making Quirrell breathe in deeply though his nose to calm himself down. "Keep your silence..."

"I have become... mere shadow and vapor." Voldemort spoke again after, what seemed to be, a minute of silence. "I have form only when I can share another's body, but there have always been those willing to let me into their hearts and minds..."

(Y/N) and Harry watched Voldemort intently as the dark lord's red eyes seemingly glowed in the dim chamber where the mirror stood.

"Unicorn blood has strengthened me these past weeks..." Voldemort continued as his eyes became half-lidded. "You two saw faithful Quirrell drinking it for me in the forest."

"Yeah, and that was disgusting." (Y/N) piped in while scrunching their face in disgust, as they remembered the trail of shining silver blood trailing through the forest like there's no tomorrow.

That, and the dead body of the unicorn.

Voldemort and Harry turned their heads toward (Y/N), both having different face expressions. The Rosewood glanced their eyes over towards the two, confused.

"What? I'm telling the truth." They said as they place their hands behind their head.

"Well, you don't need to worry, Rosewood. For once I have the Elixir of Life, I will be able to create a body of my own." Voldemort said, as if he was reassuring the (H/C) haired Slytherin in an eerie manner, turning his head towards Harry. "Now, why don't you give me that stone in your pocket, Harry Potter?"

Harry almost forgot that he had the stone in his possession, and his fight or flight response directed into his legs.

The boy took a couple of step backwards while pressing his hand over to the pocket where the stone was.

(Y/N) didn't move and just watched Harry, while wondering when they can use the apple they brought with them. They can't seem to find the right timing to use it.

"Now, don't be a fool." Voldemort spoke up, making Harry stop in his tracks. "Better save your own life and join me, or you'll meet the same end as your parents."

The dark lord smirked devilishly, and the look in his eyes were enough to send the two students chills. They were so heartless, and cold. No ounce of regret, shame nor guilt was present in his eyes.

He found amusement through his horrific actions.

_"They died begging me for mercy, after all."_

"You liar!" Harry shouted instantaneously, not wanting to hear any more words coming out of Voldemort's mouth.

"I suddenly remember why I dislike this fucking asshole." (Y/N) tore their eyes away from him, muttering things underneath their breath in contempt.

"How touching..." Voldemort chuckled darkly as Quirrell took a step backwards to get a closer look at Harry. "I always value bravery. Yes, boy, your parents were brave... I killed your father first, and he put up a courageous fight. But, your mother needn't have died; she was trying to protect you."

"I could still hear the screams - oh, how melodic they were." A maniacal laugh escaped Voldemort's mouth, almost taunting and mocking Harry while he felt proud to talk about how he killed the boy's parents.

Harry looked down, biting his lip while trying not to cry, as he did not want to show weakness in front of someone like Voldemort.

At the same time, he was angry and frustrated. The one thing that Harry wanted to do right now; is punch and curse Voldemort for what he has done to him.

He's the reason why he hadn't felt love and appreciation for eleven years.

**I̶f̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶d̶i̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶o̶d̶a̶y̶,̶ ̶n̶o̶ ̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶w̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶e̶v̶e̶n̶ ̶m̶o̶u̶r̶n̶ ̶n̶o̶r̶ ̶c̶r̶y̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶h̶i̶m̶.̶**

"Shut up." Voldemort's laugh stopped abruptly as he brought his eyes over to (Y/N). The top half of their face began to darken and dim as they slightly lowered their head.

Their fists tightened in anger, that their knuckles began to turn white and the corner of their lips twitched.

"(Y/N)?" Harry called out to (Y/N) worriedly, but his concerned expression dropped when he saw how furious they were as they lifted their head to meet Voldemort's eyes.

"It's so sickening to hear you talk about how you killed Harry's parents, like it was just something that happened in a normal day." (Y/N) scoffed in disbelief before continuing. "Was it fun? Did it satisfy you? Did it not cross your mind that you almost destroyed any hope that Harry has for a nice family who could care about him?"

When they realized that they were starting to raise their voice, they stand back a little and slightly regained their composure as they closed their eyes.

"I actually don't care if you're the dark lord trying to resurrect yourself, or find a new body to latch yourself to." (Y/N) opened their eyes and shot Voldemort the same deadly stare that they gave to Quirrell a few moments ago. "And I can admit that I, too, am selfish and I have my own desires that I want to indulge myself in."

"But, I have feelings and emotions. I knew what it was like to be born in a shitty family with shitty people trying to take advantage of me because I was innocent," (Y/N) remembered their crumbling and destructive family, but shook their head away from the thoughts before it completely consumed their mind as they walk silently in front of Harry, almost shielding him from Voldemort. "and I don't want anyone else to experience the same thing."

The (H/C) haired Slytherin brought their finger up, pointing it at Voldemort accusingly while their slightly faded red eyes were narrowed angrily.

Their lips curled down that resembled something like a snarl of a dog as they let their emotions start to take control of them once more.

"'You might think that I'm not the same as you, but you are'? Don't make me laugh." They said before taking a deep breath to continue,

_**"A selfish thoughtless monster, who's drunk in his own desire for power, shouldn't be comparing himself to me."** _

(Y/N) watched as Voldemort became speechless with their words, to the point where his eyes became slightly widened.

No eleven year old, or a teenager who's almost eighteen years old, had ever told him off like this with pure venom and spite in their voice.

It almost... intrigued Voldemort.

"(Y/N)..." Harry breathed out, staring at (Y/N) with wide emerald green eyes that both held a look of awe and disbelief. He didn't expect them to be like this, especially around Voldemort.

The way they stood in front of Harry, the way they told him to shut up when he was mocking his parents' deaths - it made him gulp and shiver in excitement. His shoulders trembled, and he felt his knees going weak.

**They care**

**They care**

**They care**

**They care**

**They care**

**They care**

**T҉h҉e҉y҉ ҉c҉a҉r҉e҉ ҉a҉b҉o҉u҉t҉ ҉** **m҉e**

"I must admit; I did not expect you to be this... bold. You seem to have a distaste in authority." Voldemort's tone of voice shifted slightly, as if even (Y/N) had caught him off guard. "That doesn't really matter, does it? It's quite childish of you to get mad over something that isn't even targeted towards you."

"Childish or not, any decent-minded person would think that you are a heartless bastard." (Y/N) frowned angrily. "Just own up to it."

"It saddens me that I have to... kill someone from my own house. I have grown interested in you as well, Rosewood." The dark lord's dramatically sad face made the Rosewood roll their eyes in annoyance. "Alas, your fate... doesn't seem to be on your side."

Voldemort turned his attention back to Harry.

"This is your last chance, Potter; _give me the stone._ " He asked impatiently. "I will not ask again."

Harry glanced towards (Y/N)'s way before taking a step beside them, grabbing their hand and locking it with his.

(Y/N) was shocked at his actions, but didn't say anything and just went along with it, as they couldn't really say anything in the first place.

"Never." This one word from Harry was enough to spill the pent up anger that Voldemort felt for the past few minutes.

" **SEIZE THEM!** " Voldemort shrieked loudly. The sound echoed around the room that it made the two students wince in pain and tightly closed their eyes, due to how loud and high it was.

(Y/N) was the first to open their eyes, and they immediately saw Quirrell dashing towards Harry with a scary indescribable look.

"Harry!" (Y/N) pushed Harry out of the way, right before Quirrell's hands landed on (Y/N)'s neck, instead of his.

As the DADA teacher tackled the Rosewood to the ground, the strong and firm grip that he had on their neck was enough for them to struggle and squirm below him, desperate to tear his hands away from their neck.

 _'I... didn't expect him to be this fucking strong..!'_ They gasped when his grip became stronger, and saliva started to drip from the corner of their mouth while shutting their eyes tightly as hard as they could and trying to keep their conscious. _'Holy shit, I can't...breathe!'_

"(Y/N)!" Harry exclaimed and scrambled himself to get up from the floor. He ran over towards Quirrell and roughly pushed him off of (Y/N). "Get away from them!"

When Quirrell was shoved away from (Y/N), Harry crouched down and helped them get up.

Fits of coughing and wheezing kept escaping their lips as they placed their hand on their neck to try and soothe it, despite almost being wrung and broken by Quirrell.

"Are you okay? Can you breathe!?" Harry asked and horrifically stared at the red and slightly purple color that started to emerge from their neck. "Stay with me, (Y/N)!"

 _'I made a promise to_ _Hagrid_ _, but Salazar, I almost fucking died!'_ They thought while continuing to cough harshly.

After a few seconds of wheezing and coughing, (Y/N) looked up at Harry's eyes and forced a smile as they look like they're still in pain.

"I-I'm fine... Thanks." (Y/N)'s voice cracked and they continued to cough for a few seconds, until their eyes flickered over behind them. They quickly placed their hands on Harry's shoulders.

"Harry!" They exclaimed as they pushed him out of the way again. Quirrell's hand smacked (Y/N) over to the side, where the small set of stone stairs were.

Their head had hit one of the hard steps, and the harsh pain throbbed around their skull and resonated throughout the rest of their body before they blacked out almost immediately.

Their body became limp and it slowly slid down to the ground as blood started to form on the left side of their forehead.

"(Y/N), no!" Harry exclaimed as he could only watch the scene horrifically.

He couldn't do anything; they were always there to take the damage that should've been meant for him.

He couldn't take the thought of (Y/N) getting hurt, and with their limp body, he was almost convinced that they were dead. That, he cannot risk to happen.

His green eyes slowly lost its light, and his face seemingly darkened when he saw blood trickling down from their forehead.

"Worry about yourself more, Harry." Voldemort's misty yet aggressive voice snapped him out of his breakdown. "You're next."

Harry couldn't even react as fast as he could, when Quirrell placed his hands on his neck with the very intention to kill him as fast as possible. A needle-sharp pain seared through Harry's scar, that it almost felt unbearable.

He felt like his head was about to split into two, and it was driving him insane.

However, the pain abruptly stopped as soon as Quirrell removed his hands away from Harry's neck.

He squinted his eyes and tried to focus where his DADA teacher had went, when he saw him hunched over a few steps away from him.

His green eyes widened when he saw his hands; they looked burnt, almost as if it was being sizzled in a hot frying pan.

He could've sworn he saw Quirrell's tendrils popping and throbbing from his hand as the teacher continued to howl in pain.

"Master, I cannot hold him; my hands!" He exclaimed, staring horrifically at his raw and red hands. "My hands!"

"Then, kill him fool, and be done!" Voldemort screeched impatiently and angrily at the teacher.

Quirrell raised his hand to perform a deadly curse, however, Harry reached up and grabbed his face by instinct.

Quirrell screamed and rolled off of Harry as he tumbled down to the floor and bringing his red hands over his face to try and stop the pain.

The boy stared down at the man who was howling in pain, and thought about keeping him in pain, at least until Dumbledore comes.

However, Harry shook his head, trying his best to ignore the pain that started to build up around his lightning scar.

 _'Should he really be off this easily?'_ He thought, then flickered his eyes over to (Y/N)'s limp body by the stone stairs.

His mouth slightly parted open when the screams of his mother and the desperate calls of his father entered his mind, along with the blinding green light that always seemed to end those screams and calls.

He was brought back to reality and his lips quivered in fear when he thought about how (Y/N) saved his life twice tonight and stood up for him against Voldemort. They were acting exactly like his parents,

And what did they get?

**_Death._ **

But no, he wouldn't let that same tragedy happen again. Not this time.

Not with them.

_He_ _**ha** _ _d_ _**t** _ _o g_ _**e** _ _t rid of him._

**He hurt them.**

**He hurt them.**

**He hurt them.**

**He hurt them.**

**H̷e̷ ̷h̷u̷r̷t̷ ̷t̷h̷e̷m̷**

"You know, professor," Harry's voice was calm, almost soothing in a way, as he walked over towards the unsuspecting professor. "I learned it the hard way."

"When the person you care about is gone or hurt," He sat on Quirrell's chest and placed his hand on his neck, ignoring the shrieks of pain and how he desperately tried to push him off. "the world looks so monochrome and empty."

"But, that night over now." The sizzling sounds and the burn that Quirrell accumulated in his neck, had gone on for far too long, that blood started to seep out from the seemingly dissolving skin as he started to make gurgling noises.

Harry could feel Quirrell's bone after a few seconds of burning his neck, making him sigh and stand up.

The Gryffindor looked down to the professor, who had his wide, terrified eyes locked on his now toxic and lifeless green eyes.

_**"Good night, professor."** _

As those words left Harry's mouth, he swiftly stomped his foot on Quirrell's neck as hard as he could.

A sickening crack echoed around the silence of the chamber, making Harry sigh in satisfaction and gently remove his foot from his neck.

Without sparing any merciful glance towards Quirrell, he walks over to (Y/N)'s body, but he could feel his vision spinning and blurring.

The throbbing pain in his head returned, making Harry wince and groan in pain.

 _'Help...'_ He thought, while trying to walk over to them without falling to the floor. _'I need to help (Y/N)...'_

However, the more they try to walk, the farther (Y/N) seems to be. As Harry took one sloppy step forward, his body felt like he wasn't stepping on anything, making him stumble on his feet and fall.

_'Huh, why am I-'_

Before Harry could even finish his thought, he already passed out with only one hand away from reaching (Y/N).

The chamber was now silent, with only sounds of fire crackling around the room.

»»----- ♡ -----««

My eyes slowly fluttered open, and was immediately greeted by a shiny golden ceiling with sun rays hitting through the window brightly. I bring my eyes away from the light since it was beginning to hurt my eyes.

"Ugh, what the hell happened?" I groaned as I sit up, trying my best to ignore the throbbing headache. My eyes flickered over to the familiar boy sleeping right next to me with messy (H/C) hair.

 _'Alem?'_ I thought, while noticing how peaceful he seemed to be when he's asleep.

He even looks like a girl when he sleeps. His somewhat feminine features are really prominent.

I divert my attention away from my brother and took notice of bundles of sweets and chocolates next to me.

They were wrapped up nicely with few notes placed underneath or on them.

 _'Huh, that's weird...'_ My eyebrow quirked up in confusion as I picked up the first note that I saw.

**_Get wELL sOon,_ **   
_-NeViLLe_

Neville's handwriting was shaky and almost seemed rushed, though I don't really mind. The note was placed underneath a pack of Chocoballs, making me smile as he was really thoughtful and so kind.

I swear to protect Neville from any harm, even if it's the last thing I have to do.

The next note was unexpected and surprising, since I didn't expect him to actually send me a get-well card. I thought he'd forgotten me already since the Quidditch match against Gryffindor and Slytherin.

_I don't want my favorite twin to show up in the great hall looking like one of those mermaids in the black lake. So here, I brought you some more Honeydukes candies. You owe me an essay for this._   
**_\- Your favorite chaser, Adrian_ **

I rolled my eyes as I finished reading the note. It was placed on a basket of Honeydukes candies - most of them were candies that I asked him to get me, back when he was asking me to do his Charms... homework or was it a project?

I don't really remember anymore.

I still appreciated the thought, though. It looks like he actually didn't forget me after I helped him.

The next note was also from someone I didn't expect. A soft blush invaded my cheeks as my slowly yet gently brought the note closer to me to read it better.

_I came here as soon as I heard that you were admitted to the hospital wing. Though we haven't really talked that much before, I hope you're okay and get well soon!_

_(PS. I've never heard of a Slytherin heroine/hero before, but I like it!)_

**_\- Cedric Diggory_ **

_'Holy shit, he noticed me-'_ My thoughts abruptly stopped and thought about how cringey it is that I'm referring to Cedric as if he's my senpai.

Even though, technically, he is.

When I start to imagine how Cedric had rushed here in the hospital wing, with a panicked look on his face, my blush only worsened.

Salazar, get a grip of yourself! He's probably only interested in you because he thinks you're a seer!

I mean, as long as it keeps him interested, then I don't really care.

The note was placed underneath three small boxes of Chocolate Frogs and few packets of Sugar Quills.

I appreciate how Cedric took the time to actually give something like this to me, let alone write a note to say how he rushed over here when he got the news that I was injured.

"I..." I opened my mouth to speak as I placed the note back to where it was before. "It feels so weird to be smothered with gifts. It feels like I'm having my funeral or something."

Nonetheless, I smiled. It felt nice to wake up with gifts - I haven't really gotten many gifts before when I was in the real world, so this is a nice touch.

Though, I'm not used to getting many gifts, I would still appreciate it.

I shook those thoughts away when I felt pressure on the left side of my forehead. I bring my fingers up to it, feeling the slightly rough texture of a bandage in my fingertips.

I push my fingers slightly on the injury and winced when I felt a jolt of pain coursing through the veins of my head.

 _'Damn, that hurts...'_ I thought and brought my fingers down. I continue to scan the room for anything I could place my attention to, and my eyes caught two familiar boys laying down on their beds.

 _'Harry and Ron are over there...'_ I glance over at the Gryffindor boys, who were unconscious and seemed to be enjoying their slumber. _'That's weird - I thought Ron should be with Hermione in the Gryffindor common room right now.'_

I blink when I realized that I haven't used the apple to throw Quirrell off guard. Salazar, it was practically useless.

I grumble and looked beside me to see if the apple was placed there, but there were no signs of the fruit whatsoever.

Only my wand was there, sitting peacefully as if nothing happened.

I raise the blankets up and grumbled more when I saw that I was in a clean hospital gown-like clothing.

Madam Pomfrey must've seen the blood in my pajamas and thought that I needed to change.

If the apple isn't here, then where is it?

I frown and thought it'd be best to forget about it now. If it's gone, then there's nothing else I could do.

Besides, I was using it for Quirrell, and since he's most likely dead by now while I was unconscious, there's really nothing else for me to do with it.

I bring my eyes over to Alem and thought I should wake him up now. He must've ran here when he got the news that I was admitted here as well.

I am _so_ ready for the amount of scolding and questions I'm about to get from this boy.

"Alem, wake up." I place my hand on his shoulders, shaking it slightly. "Let my legs move for a while."

"Mmh..." Alem stirred in his spot and opened his eyes slowly, with a groggy and tired expression on his face. "Wha..."

My brother's expression changed almost immediately when he saw me looking at him with a deadpan expression.

He gasped and stood up from his seat, bringing me to his bone-crushing hug.

"(Y/N)! Sweet Merlin's beard!" He breathed out and gave me one tight hug before releasing me from his hug. Salazar, it felt like I was suffocating. "What happened to you!? I came here as soon as Professor Snape told me that you were admitted to the hospital wing!"

I opened my mouth to answer his question, but before I can even speak, he was already starting to ramble.

"Your head was bleeding when I came here!" He panics, and it looks like some memory flashed through his eyes as his expression changed into a horrified one. He's probably remembering the blood that gushed out of my forehead when he came here. "You don't have a concussion, do you!?"

"Do you even know how concussions work?" I ask, bringing my hand over to my ear and rubbing it since he was being so loud right now. I can feel my headache getting worse.

"...No, but I'm starting to freak out because you _might_ have one right now!" Before Alem starts to panic and pace around the hospital wing again like a maniac, I shush him and placed a hand on his arm.

"Calm your butt, Alem - I'm _fine_." I reassure him, making him sigh and loosen his shoulders.

"At least I didn't die from blood loss or something." I continued with a shrug. "Because it would truly suck if I did."

"Don't even try to make jokes like that, (Y/N) - I was _so_ worried about you!" Alem shot me a concerned yet somewhat annoyed glare.

"Since _when_ are you not worried about me, though?" A smirk made its way to my lips when those words left my brother's words.

He was left speechless and silent for a while until he shrugged, pointing his finger towards me.

"...That's true." He said and stopped again, before continuing to talk.

"You know, now I'm really starting to think that I should just let Malfoy follow you if you're ever going somewhere dangerous." He said and leaned back on his chair while crossing his arms.

I thought he was only joking, and expected him to make a playful smirk or something, but he looked so serious and stern.

"What? That's stupid - why would you do that?" I scoffed when I realized that he wasn't joking around.

"Because you almost die when you do. I'm guessing Potter isn't doing a very good job of keeping his friends safe for the sake of protecting the stone." He scornfully pouted like an angry puppy. "Speaking of the stone, don't even think about saying 'told you so'."

"Geez, it's not Harry's job to protect us when the threat is literally trying to kill him every five seconds." I sigh, finding Alem's 'guess' to be completely ridiculous. "Since Harry is the only one who could've stopped Quirrell, of course he needs to prioritize in stopping him first."

"Besides, we're not that dumb to not protect ourselves." I lean on the bed's headboard while playing with the hem of my blanket.

"(Y/N), you're almost in the brink of having a traumatic brain injury right now." He said with a deadpan face, bringing his eyes over to my forehead.

I look at him for a while, until he raised his eyebrow as if he's saying 'am I right?'.

"...Okay, maybe I'm the dumb one but that's not my point!" I said, flailing my hands around as I heard him scoff playfully beside me. "Also, who said that I'm having a brain injury?"

"I don't know - you hit your head too hard that it bled. Don't you think that you might have a brain injury right now?" Alem kept his eyes on my forehead and his face seemed to be scrunching every five seconds.

I can definitely tell that he's imagining how my head bled, from that disgusted look of his.

"Oh come on, if I did, there would've been something wrong with me." I slap his arm, making him tear his eyes away from my injury. He slapped back, but on my leg.

"Well I'm not taking any chances - I'm going to look for Madam Pomfrey." He said, as he stood up from his seat while arranging his pajamas since it did look a bit crinkled. "She might be able to see if you have one."

"I mean, there's a 99 percent of chance that I don't, but sure." I rolled my eyes and fully laid myself on my bed, staring up at the ceiling with a bored and tired look on my face.

"Don't try to do anything stupid while I'm gone, you hear?" He said, making me turn my head towards his direction with a pout.

"You say that as if I always do stupid things when no one is supervising me." I said.

"Because you do." He replied back almost instantaneously. I groan and said nothing as I shoo'ed him away with my hand.

The sound of Alem's slippers eventually recede in the hospital wing, making me sigh at how silent the room is now.

I was just about to go back to sleep, since I have nothing else to do, but someone's footsteps made me snap my eyes open.

The footsteps were calm; they weren't rushing or anything. The soft clicking and gliding of their shoes were enough for me to identify who it might be.

Though, I might be wrong.

 _'Is that_ _Dumbledore_ _?'_ I thought, ready to flicker my eyes over to the source of the footsteps.

"You seem to have a very wonderful relationship with your brother, Miss/Mr. Rosewood." Dumbledore's mystifying yet calming voice made me sit up on my bed and turn my head over towards the headmaster.

"It's quite... refreshing to see two siblings being quite close with each other, especially you and Mr. Rosewood." He stopped on the foot of my hospital bed as he sent me a gentle smile.

"Oh um... Tha-Thank you?" I stutter as I scratched my cheek in nervousness. "I mean, we try our best to annoy each other as much as we can."

"Though it seems like you are the one who annoys Mr. Rosewood more often." A chuckle escaped from his mouth. "It's quite funny, forgive me if it offends you."

"No, not really." I said, waving my hand to reassure the headmaster. "It'll take more than that to offend me."

I blink and flickered my eyes over to the other side of the room, where Harry's bed was. He was still sleeping, and I figured that Dumbledore only came here to talk to him.

"Are you... here to see Harry?" I asked, and then almost forgot that I was talking to a headmaster. "Um... sir?"

"Well, it seems it'll take a while for Harry to come to his senses." Dumbledore turned around, facing Harry as he seemed to observe him for a moment before turning back again to place his attention on me. "It might be best to spend time talking to you until that happens."

"Oh, okay then." I said, a bit dazed. "I don't think I'll be fun to talk to, though."

"Such things don't matter to me, Miss/Mr. Rosewood." He begins to walk up to the chair where Alem sat before, and sat down. "I will always be able to find joy in talking to people who interest me."

"I find it quite flattering that I interest you, sir." I send Dumbledore a small smile. "I personally believe that I have no interesting qualities that intrigue people."

"You might find it surprising that the people who surround you are charmed by the interesting qualities, that you believe are non-existent, in you." He leaned a bit closer - his half-moon spectacles reflecting bits of sunlight from the windows. "I believe Harry and Malfoy are both equally charmed by these qualities, as I have observed that they are quite... different around you."

 _'Oh shit, is Draco the other guy who likes me?'_ I start to panic while piecing everything together. _'But, that doesn't make sense; I thought he was supposed to hate my guts or something.'_

I shake my head, removing those thoughts away from my mind and brought myself back on this conversation.

"I mean, I think they're just 'different' around me because I'm their friend. Draco and Harry didn't have any other friends before, so yeah..." I said, shrugging unsurely. Dumbledore must've noticed this, as he chuckles again but his smile slightly disappeared when he stopped.

"Both Harry and Malfoy have friends, and none of them have ever been treated the way those two treat you." An indescribable glint flashed through Dumbledore's eyes for a moment, almost as if he was recalling things in his mind.

This glint disappeared as soon as it came, and the gentle smile that he held moments ago returned instantaneously. "However, I am in no position to judge nor tell you anything. It is your perspective, after all."

I return his smile with a nervous and somewhat crooked one. I was about to look back down on my blanket and ready to succumb myself into awkward silence, as I can't say anything at the moment.

However, Dumbledore proved me wrong by speaking up once more.

"I must applaud you for confronting Quirrell with Harry - I did not expect a Slytherin, such as yourself, to protect him." He said with a nod.

"He's my friend; it's only natural for me to come and protect him." I replied and leaned on the headboard of my bed, trying to ease myself from the unwavering tension of this conversation. I needed to be careful of my words. "It's really nothing for you to applaud about, sir."

"Ah, I guess that is true." Dumbledore said. "House prejudices really don't go inside your head, do they?"

"No offense, but only stupid and shallow people would let such things get inside their heads." I sighed and looked up to the ceiling. "In the end, they're still people. Being sorted in Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw doesn't mean anything when you're a normal wizard at the end of the day."

I look down again to face Dumbledore, whose face is now neutral.

"Do you think Mr. Malfoy is shallow, then?" He asked, which made me scoff.

"He may be my friend, but I would be lying if I said that he isn't stupid and shallow." I shake my head in disappointment for Draco. I get that he can be a nice guy, but sometimes, he can be so dumb. "Though, I can assure you that he's quite... _empathetic_ when you get to know him."

"I'll take your word for it, Miss/Mr. Rosewood." He nodded once more.

"You really seem to know a lot about Mr. Malfoy and Harry, (Y/N)." Dumbledore's words almost made me choke on my spit as the corners of my lips twitched in discomfort and nervousness. "It's both concerning and intriguing at the same time."

"W-Well, they are my friends, after all." I stuttered, fumbling with my fingers as I turned away from the headmaster. "I might've only known them for a year, but it feels like I've known them since we were kids."

"That might be the case, (Y/N)." Dumbledore chuckled, placing his hand inside the pocket of his long silver robe and retrieving a familiar red apple, lifting it closer to me so I can get a better look at it.

"W-Wait, how did... you...?" No proper words could escape my mouth as I gulped. I even grew confused at the large bitten chunk from the apple.

I don't remember anyone taking a bite out of that before.

"Mr. Weasley took a bite out of that apple when he came to visit here a few hours ago." Dumbledore said, and answered the question that was rumbling inside my head - almost as if he knew exactly what I was thinking. "It was very surprising to see him freeze up after taking a bite, which led me to believe that it was tampered with."

Dumbledore examined the apple with an observing look on his face. I could've sworn that I saw him giving me a side glance for a brief moment - like he's trying to see how I'm reacting.

"I... um. I don't-" I continued to stutter and fumble, not knowing how to respond to the headmaster himself.

I've never really thought about how I should respond to people whenever I'm backed in a corner or if someone is about to find out my secrets.

My anxiety just becomes increasingly higher.

"Oh don't worry - your secret is safe with me." He smiled, making me feel confused. Does that mean that he knows about me now? "I believe that the rumors are true, then?"

"R-Rumors...?" I asked.

"That you can, indeed, see the future." Dumbledore responded, and we both became silent for a while.

He's referring to the rumors about me being a seer.

Does that mean he doesn't know that I'm from a different world yet?

"Uh-" I said, until I shook my head and kept up the impression that I'm a seer.

"I mean, y-yes. But, please k-keep it a secret, sir...?" I clapped my hands together while smiling uncomfortably. It felt very odd to lie to a headmaster - a wizard headmaster at that. "It's a very... um, sensitive information - who knows what'll happen if Voldemort happens to know that."

"I admire your bravery for being able to speak Voldemort's name, Miss/Mr. Rosewood." Dumbledore seemed to ignore my words as he nodded at the fact of me calling Voldemort so freely. "If I recall, Harry also calls Voldemort by his name."

"Though it is quite risky to speak of his name out loud, in the end, that's what it is." I sighed, narrowing my (E/C) eyes when I remembered how Voldemort said that we were similar to each other - there's just no way. "A made up name made by someone who was willing to throw his old self and his own name all for the sake of fulfilling his desires."

I turned to look at the headmaster, and immediately sweat dropped when I saw how overly observing he was.

I felt discomfort, even though Dumbledore should have this powerful yet warm and calming aura.

For some reason, I can just feel a slight twinge of skepticism in him when I look at the lightly sunken eyes underneath his half-moon spectacles.

"I-I mean, Voldemort couldn't be his actual name." I stuttered, trying to clear up some tension from Dumbledore's shoulders. He blinked, and the skepticism that I felt in him was gone in a flash.

Instead, he smiled warmly, almost as if to reassure me about something that I'm not aware of.

"Well, that must mean that Snape might've been right about you." He mumbled loudly. His words were enough to make me quirk an eyebrow upwards as I started to wonder what Professor Snape has been saying about me.

Wait, he talks about me to Dumbledore?

"...what?"

"Oh, it's nothing, Miss/Mr. Rosewood." He shook his head as the warm smile remained the same in his wrinkly face. Dumbledore stood up from his seat, my eyes following his every moment to try and figure out what he's hiding from me.

"Though I'd love to chat with you a bit more, I'm afraid that time is running out and I must attend to some duties before coming back and check up on Harry." He continued. I snapped out of my thoughtful gaze when I realized that Dumbledore was about to leave.

"O-Oh, alright." I said, smiling at the headmaster as nicely as I could to cover up the slight suspicions I have on him. "It was nice talking to you, sir."

"Likewise." Dumbledore nodded. "I do hope we can converse again some other time, and always remember;"

He leaned closer towards me as he slowly placed the bitten apple on my lap. My eyes lingered over towards the apple, slightly surprised at the realization that he hasn't returned it yet until now.

" **Never forget what you came here to do, (Y/N).** " Those words were enough to make me turn and look back at Dumbledore, who had an indescribable look on his face.

I couldn't tell if he was being serious, if he was joking or anything that might make me see what he's currently thinking right now.

Though, the only thing that entered my mind when I heard those words were;

**Erised.**

Erised and their stupid mocking face.

Dumbledore left the room before I could even say anything in my speechless form. However, I didn't bother to call out after him as I returned my thoughts back on Erised, while placing the apple next to my wand in the desk.

Now that I think about it, I've never really gotten the chance to properly observe their features since I'm busy being too frustrated and angry at them for ruining my day.

It completely slipped away from my mind; the way Erised looked at me. Their expression was always in a mocking yet resentful one.

It felt as if they had a long-term grudge towards me - one that I don't know about.

A chill ran down my spine when I started to think about that, though I don't understood why I felt that small rush of fear when I did so.

Something continuously scratched at the back of my mind, and it was neither a question nor an answer that I've come up with to solve the mystery surrounding the hoodie wearing child.

It was more like,

A warning. A warning that not everything about this is not what you think it is.

Another chill ran down my spine that it almost made me uncomfortable. However, if my suspicions are correct, then there must be something more to Erised than just a 'dream figure' that popped in my dreams to fulfill my wishes.

Just then, I saw a small flash of familiar (H/C) hair on the doorway. I blinked as I immediately expected Alem to enter the room with his usual annoyingly stern voice, but to my surprise and confusion, no signs of the boy were to be found on the doorway.

All that was left in the spot where I saw the hair was a neatly placed white lily - which I'm quite sure wasn't there before.

Otherwise, Dumbledore or Alem or maybe even me, should've noticed it before.

"Alem?" I called out, trying to make sure that it wasn't my brother just trying to mess with me.

No response.

I frown and didn't say anything else since it might've just been my imagination. I have been thinking a lot recently anyway.

"Well, that was weird..." I breathed out, leaning on the headboard of my hospital bed to try and get my mind off of the things that just happened.

After banging my head on a set of hard and stone-y stairs, overthinking could lead to my headache becoming worse than a migraine.

»»----- ♡ -----««

It was currently 9 AM, and after Madam Pomfrey had examined (Y/N) with a few tests, she had concluded that the (H/C) haired Slytherin might have a mild concussion.

The mediwitch doesn't exactly know how concussions work, since it rarely happens with students in Hogwarts, the least she could say to Alem was to watch (Y/N), and if they feel lightheaded or their head begins to throb and hurt, let them rest.

Of course, because of this, Alem kept himself close to (Y/N), much to his other twin's annoyance.

(Y/N) figured that escaping from their brother would be the best choice, since they didn't want to deal with his continuous yammering about how they should've listened to him and not go with Harry.

"Hey, Alem. I might've forgotten something in the hospital wing." (Y/N) said, pushing the wizard candies they took with them to Alem's arms while scratching the back of their neck and thinking of multiple reasons to dodge Alem. "You should go ahead to the common room - I'll be following right behind you."

"I know what you're planning, (Y/N). _Don't_ even think about it." Alem sighed in annoyance while adjusting his arms to not let any of the candies fall off as he faced his twin with narrowed (E/C) eyes. "I'm not letting you out of my sight because I don't you to die because of a mild concussion."

"Bloody hell, I'm not even trying to do anything." They frowned. "For your information, I know how concussions work so there's no way in hell I'm gonna be unsupervised."

"But I'm only going to check if I did bring my wand with me, and the apple that I, unfortunately, didn't use." (Y/N) said, bringing their finger up to stop Alem from saying anything.

"You brought your wand with you when we left, but please tell me _why_ you're so keen on having that apple back." Alem groaned as he glanced over to (Y/N)'s hospital gown's pockets, which had the wand tip sticking out. "and if you didn't use it, how come it's bitten?"

"Ron bit it for some reason. He might've been hungry but I can't blame him for doing so, since he didn't know that the apple was 'poisoned'." (Y/N) made air quotation marks as Alem hummed understandingly and started to ponder if Gryffindors are actually stupid.

 _'So that's why Weasley was also there.'_ Alem thought.

"And if other professors found out that the apple was tampered with, who knows what kind of trouble I'll be facing." (Y/N) shrugged, making Alem think that professors wouldn't actually check the apple unless it's necessary.

Although, the Rosewood twin thought that it's better to be safe than sorry.

"Alright. But come to the Slytherin common room as soon as you get it back." Alem said, almost in a threatening manner. "If you don't, I'll give these away to Crabbe and Goyle."

"Alem, you wouldn't actually do that to your twin, would you?" (Y/N) sweat dropped as they started to become terrified of Alem's simple but very effective threats.

He knew that (Y/N) would rather jump off of a building than give those two humongous treats that they've gotten from other students.

"Try me." He scoffed. (Y/N) gulped and realized that he was being serious.

They sighed and nodded before walking back to the hospital wing without looking back to their brother.

The (H/C) haired Slytherin took a few twists and turns through the hallway to reach the hospital wing, until they've encountered a familiar black haired man, who is also walking over towards them.

Their walking pace slowed, wondering what Snape was doing in these hallways.

"Good morning, Professor Snape." They greeted the stone-faced man, who only stared back at them with half-lidded eyes.

Snape didn't say anything and continued staring, stopping in his tracks to quietly observe the Rosewood twin.

"Er..." (Y/N) stopped, now feeling awkward. Especially when they remembered that Quirrell said something about Snape having a soft spot for them. "Excuse me, sir?"

"...Good day, Miss/Mr. Rosewood." Snape finally said something after a few seconds of silence. His voice was as low and cold as ever, almost chilling the Slytherin in front of him.

"You are quite... the troublemaker, aren't you?" He continued, flickering his eyes over to the small patch of bandage on (Y/N)'s forehead.

Dried blood seemed to stain the center of it, and the Potions master almost scrunched his face in disgust.

"The _most_ troublesome Slytherin I have ever seen, next to Malfoy." Snape looked away from their forehead and now focused on their (E/C) eyes.

"I guess Harry's influence got the better of me, Professor." (Y/N) let out a nervous and lighthearted laugh as they scratched the back of their head. "I'm not usually like this."

"I believe your acquaintanceship with Potter has led your life to a lot of risky situations." Snape addressed. "You are either a fool to not realize this, or ignorant enough to keep sticking to Potter like a piece of gum."

"Quite harsh, sir. But sure, I'll take it as a compliment." (Y/N) grinned, scoffing in the process. "Are you going somewhere, sir?"

Snape clicked his tongue at (Y/N)'s question and stared down at them, almost as if he was sneering in disgust.

(Y/N) paid no attention to his expression and kept smiling, since they know that Snape is always like that.

Besides, it's not like (Y/N) isn't used to such treatment.

"It's none of your business, Rosewood." Snape replied with a scowl, and didn't say anything else when the Slytherin student hummed understandingly, casting their gaze down to the floor to avoid his gaze.

The Potions master observed their disheveled hair and remembered how blood trickled down from their forehead and down to the pillow where they laid their head in last night.

They were admitted in as soon as Dumbledore came down to the chambers and reached the final room where the mirror was located.

Snape found it very unsettling when he saw the dirt around their body and the dried red blood on the lower half of their pajamas.

He didn't want to think about the possibility that (Y/N) had gotten hurt badly, but his anxiety subsided when Madam Pomfrey concluded that the blood came from something else, not from (Y/N).

He didn't want to admit it, but he couldn't help but care for (Y/N). He could always see Lily Evans in their eyes, and for quite some time, Snape started to treat the Slytherin as if they were Lily herself.

Obviously, this is very unhealthy on Snape's part, and he is aware of how wrong it is to think of them as the person who he loved the most in the world.

However, when it comes to desperation, you couldn't help but take whatever chances you have - as long as that desperation is quenched.

Snape recalled back to the night where Alem and Draco came rushing to the hospital wing, both having extremely horrified faces when they saw (Y/N) laid on the bed.

The head of the house would have scolded the two for being awake at such time, but he was aware of how much they cared for (Y/N).

He couldn't do it.

Alem kept holding (Y/N)'s hand while resting his head beside them, as the drowsiness began to take over him rapidly. He hadn't gotten any sleep, especially since he had to prevent Draco from following (Y/N).

Draco, however, was standing beside (Y/N) - across Alem. He was staring intently at the unconscious body of the Slytherin that he'd grown fond of over the year.

Snape immediately found it unsettling of how intense his glare was, almost as if he was spiraling deeper inside his thoughts.

The Malfoy's mouth was moving, muttering incoherent things that Snape couldn't catch in his ears. However, the expression that he held was enough for Snape to frown uncomfortably;

His silver eyes were widened, almost as if he was extremely shocked. The top-half of his face was darkened and seemingly gave his eyes a toxic and eerie glow in the dark.

The dim light around the hospital wing only darkened his features even more, and even Snape was aware of the dangerous aura that Draco was emitting.

Snape gulped visibly when Draco's eyes instantaneously flickered towards the bed where Harry laid in. The hardened and furious glare he held was so strong, that it almost pressured Snape.

The corner of his eyes were twitching erratically, and the darkened features became more visible as he turned his head, giving Snape a glimpse of his face.

Snape could immediately tell what that look held; he has seen it before so many times when he's with Voldemort or with other Death Eaters.

_The look of wanting to kill someone so badly._

_**The look of bloodlust.** _

The head of the Slytherin house immediately regained his composure, shaking his head to shake off any ridiculous thoughts.

Draco is a child; there's no way he could think about something so malicious.

Or at least, that's what Snape thought.

Snape snapped back to reality, grumbling when he realized that (Y/N) was still there.

 _'What makes you so unusually important to other people here, (Y/N)?'_ Snape asked to himself. _'What is your purpose here with that child, Erised?'_

The professor grumbled again and walked past (Y/N), his hands behind his back and the heels of his shoes clicking on the hallway.

"I advise you to keep your distance from Potter, Rosewood." Snape said, pondering for a moment before opening his mouth to speak again. "...and Malfoy."

(Y/N) turned their body around to face Snape, with a curious look on their face. They understand why Snape wouldn't want them to be with Harry, but they didn't understand why he had to include Draco.

"Draco?" They asked. "Why?"

"There are a lot of reasons why, Rosewood." Snape sighed in annoyance. "Though if I told you, you would not understand and will find it ridiculous."

"Of course I wouldn't understand; Draco's my friend." (Y/N)'s eyebrows furrowed even more.

"Hence why it is useless to tell you why." Snape said, dismissively. (Y/N) pouted in annoyance, knowing that they wouldn't be able to get a proper answer from the head of the Slytherin house. 

When Snape heard no more replies coming from the Rosewood, he began to walk away to leave the conversation.

"Professor Snape," (Y/N) called out, raising their voice a bit for Snape to hear them. "You don't have to blame yourself; it wasn't your fault."

After those words came out of their mouth, (Y/N) began running towards the hospital wing without looking back. Snape, however, stopped in his tracks with his mouth slightly parted open.

He looked back, watching as his student ran off to their destination. Snape closed his mouth, scoffing in disbelief as he had forgotten that (Y/N) knows everything, possibly even about everyone.

He continued to walk, but his grumpy expression was worse than ever. It almost scared the students that passed him by, even Gryffindors and Slytherins.

Snape couldn't care less; he just didn't like the fact that he was being wrapped around the finger of an 18 year old.

Meanwhile in the hospital room, (Y/N) panted and stared at the empty stand that was beside the bed they were sleeping in. They bit their lip, looking troubled and confused.

"The apple's gone."

»»----- ♡ -----««

I clicked my tongue as I walked out of the hospital wing, feeling confused while starting to suspect other people of taking the apple I left in the stand.

Then again, why would anyone want to take something as useless as a bitten apple?

Maybe Madam Pomfrey took it and threw it away when we left? She was in the hospital wing when we left.

But I also bumped into Professor Snape on my way here, and there is a possibility that he might've passed through the hospital wing and took it when we left. However, it felt unlikely.

It's either that, or I'm just not sure if the two suspects in my mind are the real culprits.

I sighed, wondering why I'm being such a detective because of a single apple. It's practically useless to me now, so I should just let it go and move on.

Once I made up my mind, I began to walk back to the Slytherin common room or hopefully, catch up to Alem before he gets there. I don't want all those candies to go to waste and I'd rather die than give those to Crabbe and Goyle.

However, when I passed through the courtyard, I caught a glimpse of a familiar Gryffindor walking out towards the outskirts of the castle.

I squinted my eyes as I stopped on my tracks, watching as Neville was strutting away and was carrying a small bundle of red... blanket in his arms.

I tilted my head to the side, running over to Neville to catch up to him to see what he's up to.

He was being quite discreet about it too, but he also looked like he was trembling as he strutted away.

"Neville!" I called out to the Gryffindor, raising my hand up and waving it to get his attention. I could've sworn I saw him flinch before turning his head around to my direction.

"Oh, (Y-Y/N)..." When I eventually caught up to him, I could see his frown and the small bags underneath his eyes.

Hell, even his hair is not properly combed, and I know that Neville always combs his hair.

I started to take this seriously; something must've happened to him.

"Are you okay?" I asked, now concerned for the boy. "You're not looking so good."

Neville's lip quivered, and looked like he was about to cry on the spot. I mentally prepared myself since I didn't know how to comfort people, let alone eleven year old children.

"Neville?" I reached out to him, but he seemed to have snapped back to reality as he immediately wiped the incoming tears in his eyes.

"I... uh..." He sniffled, holding the red bundle closer to his chest. "I'm fine, (Y/N). Thank you for worrying about me."

"Well you certainly don't look fine to me." I frowned. "Is something bothering you or...?"

Neville visibly gulped for a moment. It felt very sad to see Neville like this - he doesn't deserve to be this sad.

Something bad must've really happened to him, and I don't know what's inside that red blanket.

"It's about Trevor..." He replied with a wobbly and shaky voice. I blinked, knowing that he was talking about his toad.

Neville started to tear up and sniffled uncontrollably, making me cast my eyes down to the red blanket he's been carrying.

I put the two and two together as my eyes widened in realization. I looked like I was horrified at the realization that the trusty toad that Neville treasured so much is gone and dead.

Though, I'm also confused - why did Trevor die anyway?

What changed in this world that made Neville's toad die?

"Oh, Neville..." My frown deepened as I walked closer to him, placing my hands on his shoulders to pull him into a small comforting hug. "I'm so sorry... I know how much Trevor meant to you."

I could feel his tears stain my clothes, but I paid no attention to it. I continued to comfort him, listening to his sniffles and small soft sobs while holding the blanket where Trevor's body laid in.

I couldn't say anything else, except listen and be here for him if he's feeling down. It's very heartbreaking to see Neville like this, and I started to wonder if someone is behind this.

I mean, Trevor was still around by the time the third year came. He was unharmed and no one really bothered to pay attention to this toad.

So why did he die this time? and why did it happen so soon?

"I-I'm so sorry!" I snapped back to reality when Neville pulled himself away from my body with a flustered expression on his face. He seemed very embarrassed to be so close to me just a while ago.

"I didn't mean to... I-I..." The Gryffindor started to stammer as his face began to become redder and redder by the second.

I send him a small smirk, most likely out of amusement for his reaction, but also because he apologized over something so small.

"Why are you apologizing, Neville?" I asked as I crossed my arms. "You didn't do anything that was worth apologizing for."

"But I was... so close to you." Neville looked away in embarrassment. "You won't... start to think that I'm weird now, will you?"

I blink at Neville's question twice, and then thrice before letting out a small laugh.

"Merlin, why would I find you weird over something like _that_?" I asked while grinning at his extremely flustered face. Neville looked like he's going to faint any moment now. "Besides, I pretty much invade everyone's privacy at some point, so I think you're fine."

Neville blushed and looked away for a moment, until the color from his cheeks faded and his smile curved downwards into a frown. His eyes began to droop, as if they were half-lidded.

"...I don't think I deserve to be happy right now." He said, making me frown as well. Since I couldn't say anything that would help cheer the Gryffindor up, I gently walked up beside him and softly grabbed his shoulders.

"Come on - let's give the little fella a proper burial." I tried to make my voice as gentle as I could while beckoning Neville to follow me to a secluded area in the castle. He could only nod while letting me lead the way.

None of us said anything to each other as we walked towards our destination. I don't really think that we need to, since it'll just be awkward and agonizing. Then again, it's not like silence isn't awkward.

When we reached the area, I gently removed my hands away from Neville's shoulders and let him pick a spot to bury Trevor in.

I could see the pain and agony in his eyes as he scanned the area; he didn't want to believe his friend was dead, and he didn't want to bury him either just to wipe the positive belief from his mind.

He stopped at a particular spot and stared at it for a moment, until he lifted his head up to look at me.

"I... um..." He stuttered while gulping nervously. "I didn't bring... anything that c-can help me d-dig..."

I almost find Neville's words to be ridiculous, but I figured he was too caught up with the fact that Trevor was dead to realize that he has to bring a shovel with him to bury him.

Still, it is a bit... odd.

I do remember that I brought my wand with me, so I figured I can just create a small hole with a spell or something.

"I did bring my wand with me, but will it work?" I asked as I walked over to Neville with a shrug.

"I-I think so..." He replied. I didn't say anything else since all I need to do is create a small hole with a spell.

I don't know why, but I'm starting to feel awkward since I'm using magic to create a hole for a toad to bury.

I can feel my ancestors staring right at me from the heavens, wondering what the hell am I doing right now.

But hey, Neville needs this more than ever, and it would leave a bad taste in my mouth if I didn't do it or helped him in any way.

I knew how it felt like to be helpless in every single little thing I failed to do.

There's no way I'm not gonna let anyone experience that.

"Defodio." I said as I pointed my wand to the neat patch of dirt. The patch of dirt that my wand pointed out began to hollow itself into a small hole, while small shavings of dirt threw themselves to the side, almost as if an invisible force is digging through it.

I continued to point my wand at the dirt until I lifted it up to stop the spell once the hole is big enough for Neville to put Trevor in.

I sigh, examining the small hole and noticed that it wasn't very 'clean'.

Most of the small patches of dirt inside the hole still had huge bumps inside them and thin but visible roots can be seen from flowers that were yet to be bloomed.

"That's amazing, (Y/N)." Neville piped up behind me until he was right beside me, examining the small hole I just made. "You always have a spell for everything - it's kind of scary."

Neville lets out a forced chuckle as I shrugged, tucking my wand back inside my pocket.

"I hate to admit it, but I'm just as much of a bookworm as Hermione is." I said, which is obviously a lie.

I don't do the book reading - that's Alem's job.

I just got these spells by listing them out from the Harry Potter wiki in my phone's notes, and I never really expected any of them to work.

"Well, I can see why you and Hermione get along so well." Neville said as he began to kneel down to the ground. "You two are most likely the smartest students in the castle. I do wish I was more like you two."

"You exaggerate, Neville." I said while letting out a small but nervous laugh. "I don't think I even have the brain capacity to be as great and smart as Hermione is. Now, when it comes to Alem, that's a different story - I can't compete with him when it comes to intelligence."

I bring my eyes down to Neville's kneeled form. "And you shouldn't say that you're not smart or something like that, Neville."

"Everyone is special in their own way." I said, but the Gryffindor didn't really respond to me. I didn't say anything else that will help him gain more self-confidence, considering the mood right now.

Neville quietly brought the red blanket down to the hole, his frown deepening every second until soft sobs escaped his quivering lips.

Eventually, his sobs turned into small cries as he brought his hands up to his face to cover and wipe the tears that flowed out of his eyes.

I frown and crouched down as well, rubbing circles on Neville's back as an act of comfort but I don't think it's working all that well.

I don't really know what to do or say when someone acts like this, except listen to them.

Of course, I always pretended to care when something bad happened to my classmates back in my world.

What happens to them is none of my business after all and they're pretty much irrelevant in my eyes.

But here, everything is so different. I didn't even know that I can be this genuine towards someone, or be caring to other people when they need help.

I look up to the sky and let Neville cry out for a few minutes before patting his shoulders as I stood up, lending my hand out for the Gryffindor to take.

"Come on, Neville; say your proper goodbyes to your friend." I said in a gentle voice. "Before he goes away forever."

Neville's cries decreased in volume as he flickered his eyes over to my extended hand. He sniffles and takes it before standing up wobbly.

The corners of his eyes are red and puffy, and his nose is also red - with few snots visible. Both of our hands were intertwined together, and neither of us refused to let go.

I didn't mind, since I do know that Neville needs every comfort he can get right now.

"T-Trevor, I...I-I..." He keeps pausing and hiccuping, eventually leading him to cry loudly again as his grip in my hand tightened. "T-Thank you f-for being m-my friend a-and... and being t-there for m-me, even... e-even if you b-bring me tr-trouble most o-of the t-time...!"

"I-I don't w-want you to g-go a-away...!" Neville continues crying, making me awkwardly look around to see if there are any students nearby to hear him and see us burying a toad in the school grounds.

When the Gryffindor didn't say anything else from that point on, I retrieved my wand from my pocket and pointed it at the small hole.

I casted Defodio again, but this time, to bury and cover the hole where Trevor was buried in.

"Rest in peace, little buddy." I muttered sadly as I felt Neville placing his head on my shoulder, sobbing uncontrollably. I could feel his tears staining my clothes, but of course, I didn't mind.

I didn't say anything and instead, I placed my hand on Neville's shoulder and pulling him gently towards me.

It took the Gryffindor a while to stop crying loudly, but when he did, he sniffled and retreated away from me while wiping his red, puffy eyes with his purple pajama sleeves.

He looked like a mess.

"Come, Neville." I gently opened my mouth while extending my hand out. "It's almost time for us to head to the Great Hall."

Neville raised his head, sniffling and hiccuping as he stared at my extended hand. He sobbed softly for a moment again before taking it with his shaky hand. I frowned, feeling the wobbly and trembling sensation in his hand.

I do wish I could have done more to help him besides helping him bury his dead toad and listening to him cry for 30 minutes.

Both of us didn't say anything as we were walking closer towards the spot where I approached Neville.

When we reached it, Neville gently tugged on my hand, making me stop on my tracks and turn to look at him in a soft confused look.

"T-Thank you for... coming with me..." Neville's voice was almost silent like a whisper, but gentle as water flowing down a stream.

I could still hear what he was saying, and since he's in a very vulnerable state right now, I send him a comforting and reassuring smile to tell him that everything is going to be alright.

"It's no problem, Neville." I said, tilting my head gently to the side. "I'd always be here to help you out if you need some help."

"Um..." Neville gulped before continuing. "Ron was supposed to come with... me, but I heard about what happened and I..."

 _'Oh shit'_ I mentally cursed to myself, since I am practically the one at fault for letting Ron bite that apple. If he didn't do that, he would be helping Neville right now.

"I... am sorry, Neville. I think that's _my_ fault right there..." I scratch the back of my head bashfully while waiting for the Gryffindor's response.

"It's okay, (Y/N). I know that you four did all you can do last night to fight the bad guys." Neville smiled understandingly while sniffling. "Besides, you're a very kind person, (Y/N). Even if you did something wrong, I'd still forgive you."

 _'I'm... not a kind person, Neville.'_ I thought to myself while watching Neville smiling at me innocently.

I don't know if I should be glad for myself or feel pity for him because he doesn't know anything about the horrible things I've done to the people back in my world.

"You're really one of the sweetest person alive, you know that?" I shake my head with a smile. My words made Neville fluster as he started to cast his gaze downwards and to the hands that were still intertwined.

I could see his cheeks turning red for a second, lifting his eyes from our hands and gazing into my eyes with a very determined look.

"(Y/N), I-"

"(Y/N)?" Neville was interrupted by a familiar voice calling out my name. Both of our heads turn to the corridor and saw Draco walking over to us with his pale skin almost making him glow in the seemingly hot and clear day.

"Oh, Draco." I acknowledge his presence as he kept walking towards us with his usual squinted glare becoming more visible as he grows nearer.

He stops right in front of us, glaring right at me with his piercing dull silver eyes.

I blink and took notice of the slight bags that formed under his eyes, indicating that he hasn't been sleeping well.

I took my eyes away from his bags and looked back to his eyes, noticing that they're back to their usual stern yet lively glow.

Which is weird, considering he looked so tired and pissed when he first showed his face to us.

Draco didn't say anything as he flickered his gaze towards Neville and down to our intertwined hands with a scowl.

His eyes darkened, making me shiver for a moment but reasoned with myself that it was just probably the bangs that covered his eyes that made them darken or something.

Neville, however, visibly flinched and hesitatingly retracted his hand away from mine. The warmth from his hand disappeared, and I somewhat began to miss it.

"W-Well, (Y/N)," Neville spoke up. "I should head back to my common room. I-I'll see you later in the Great Hall."

"Oh, alright." I said and watched as Neville walked away while waving back at me with a nervous smile. "Take care of yourself, Neville!" I called out after him. He eventually disappeared into the corridor, making me turn my attention back to the Malfoy heir, who stopped scowling and returned back to his neutral deadpan look.

"I came to the hospital wing to see you, but you weren't there." Draco spoke up first.

"Let me guess; Alem told you the news that I was awake?" I asked while crossing my arms.

"Well, I did ask him first." He shrugged, casting his gaze somewhere. "That, and why he was carrying a mountain-full of wizard candies."

"He didn't give those to Crabbe and Goyle, did he?" I frowned and started to panic. Draco took notice of my nervous behavior and cocked his eyebrow up in amusement.

"No, and I don't really see any reason why he would give those two your candies." Draco replied, returning his gaze back on me. "If he did, then you must've done something to anger him."

He paused before throwing me a smirk. "You didn't _make_ your brother mad, did you?"

I roll my eyes at his question and waved my hand, almost as if I'm shoo'ing him away from me. "I always make Alem mad, but he wouldn't do something like that." I respond, but clearly unsure because I know that Alem's threats can be real.

"I like to believe that he has standards when it comes to things like this." I added, making Draco hum understandingly while keeping the same smirk plastered on his face.

His look clearly says that he doesn't believe me and what I just said right there.

"Come on, knucklehead." I sigh and started to walk over to the outdoor corridor as I beckoned my platinum blonde haired roommate to follow me. "I'm going back to the Slytherin common room."

"Ah, wait for me!" Draco called out and started to jog towards me, stopping when he was finally beside me. We were oddly close with each other - I can feel Draco's shoulders touching mine.

What's weirder and awkward is that neither of us said a word as we walked over towards the Slytherin common room.

It almost felt very tense and suffocating.

It wasn't until I noticed his intense glare towards my forehead, making me assume that he was looking at the head injury I got from last night in the chambers.

I couldn't tell if his glare was out of concern, observation or anger, since I was trying to avoid his eyes until he stopped glaring so intensely.

I started to remember the words that Snape told me;

_"I advise you to stay away from Potter and_ _Malfoy_ _, Rosewood."_

I thought he was only saying that because I was starting to badly influence the Malfoy heir. I mean, Salazar, he is from a noble family of wizards and is part of the Sacred Twenty-Nine.

I don't think Lucius or even Narcissa would like it if their only son is being influenced by someone who is known to be a troublemaker already at their first year.

Now, picking up some weird vibes from Draco, I can somewhat tell why he would want me to 'stay away' from him.

Since I got the hints from Dumbledore that he might be the other boy that also likes me, I started to feel more awkward and unnerving.

Still, I ignored the somewhat eerie aura and vibe that I'm starting to pick up from him. I don't want to assume the wrong idea or anything; I have to know or make sure if he's okay and won't cause me any trouble.

If he will, then I just have to fix it and bring everything back to normal. Everything has to be played out exactly how it should be.

"Why did you ask your brother?" He finally spoke up after minutes of silence between the two of us. Our walking pace slowed down as we started to converse to each other again.

However, that was partly the reason why my pace slowed down; I was confused at his question and what it meant.

"Ask what?" I asked him back since I wanted more specific details.

"Why did you ask him to keep me in the room and not follow you?" Once his question became more specific, I gulped and looked away from Draco in guilt.

Damn, how should I spell out 'you're a tattletale and will mostly get the four of us in trouble again' to him?

"I...uh..." I stammered, not knowing how to respond to him since I don't really want to hurt his feelings.

"(Y/N)..." His slow yet gentle voice made me stop in my tracks since his tone of voice was out of place and odd.

I suddenly felt cold shivers running down my spine, and it almost triggered my flight and fight response.

" **You don't hate me, do you?** " His tone suddenly became sad, and the guilt that I felt is now becoming stronger.

I couldn't help but frown sadly; I didn't mean to hurt his feelings or anything like that.

"I don't." I replied truthfully. "I could never hate you; why would you even ask something like that?"

It's true that Draco has made some stuff in the series that made me think he's an asshole, but I wouldn't actually despise him. He is what Narcissa said to Snape; a child.

He's a bully, but how he was in the series was because of how Lucius raised him and made him believe that every other students, who aren't purebloods, are below him.

"I just asked Alem to do that, because you always tell professors about what we're up to." I sigh as I finally answered his question from before. "You did the same thing to Professor McGonagall last time; how could I risk myself and the others to leave you be, and expect you to do nothing this time?"

Draco hummed softly, as if he understood something in what I said.

The sad expression in his face loosened, which made me feel a lot better since I don't want to feel any more worse than I do right now with this boy.

"I understand, and... apologize for that." His face scrunched up in discomfort at the word 'apologize'.

He seems to be a bit uncomfortable with lowkey admitting that he was wrong, which is kind of funny but a huge progress in Draco's part.

At least, his pride isn't as big as it was in the series here.

"Though it's quite unbelievable, it feels like you're the only other person in this entire castle who can understand me." He said, making me blink in surprise of how straightforward he was with that.

I understand why he would think that though; Crabbe, Goyle, and Zabini are simply hanging out with him and respecting him because he's from a noble family.

How can you consider them to be 'friends' when it feels like they're being obligated to have manners when they're with you at all times?

"I don't want Potter and the others to ruin that for me by constantly getting you in trouble." He continued.

 _'I don't think he realizes that when he tells other professors about what we're doing, he's also getting me in trouble.'_ I thought to myself, but decided to shrug this thought away since I do acknowledge how thoughtful and concerned he is about me, and I appreciate that.

"It's still weird seeing you apologize, Draco." I said with a laugh, trying to lessen the tense between the two of us. The platinum blonde haired boy became flustered and pouted angrily as he looked away in embarrassment.

"D-Don't get me wrong; you're still just as annoying as the other students here." He muttered. I chuckle and patted his shoulder.

"I'll take that as a compliment." I said and turned around to skip away happily, until I felt his hand grab mine and tug me back to stop in my tracks.

"All jokes aside," His tone changed again, and made me turn my head around to place my attention on him. "If you're ever facing a difficult situation next time,"

My breath hitched when I saw his widened yet dull silver eyes staring right back at me intensely.

I could feel his gaze pierce right through my head, that it almost rendered me speechless.

" **Please don't lie and push me away like that.** " His voice was small and soft, but held a very dangerous and eerie tone to it. I couldn't even say anything to him. "I don't know why, but I feel... strangely **upset** at what you did."

"SSdtIG5vdCB1c2VkIHRvIHRoZXNlIGZlZWxpbmdzIGp1c3QgeWV0LApCdXQsIHBsZWFzZSBkb24ndCBqdXN0IGlnbm9yZSB0aGVtIG9yIHB1c2ggdGhlbSBhd2F5LgpEb24ndCBkbyB0aGF0LgpEb24ndCBkbyB0aGF0LgpEb24ndCBkbyB0aGF0LgpJIGRvbid0IHdhbnQgdG8gZ2V0IHlvdXIgbGVncyBhbGwgbGltcC4KSSBkb24ndCB3YW50IHRvIGhhdmUgeW91IHN0dWNrIGluIGEgd2hlZWxjaGFpci4KSnVzdCBkb24ndCBkaXNyZWdhcmQgdGhlbS4="

I blink, not understanding what Draco just said, since it all sounded like a garble or a glitch of some sort.

However, when I turned to look at my housemate, he didn't look eerie or suspicious at all.

In fact, he looked a bit confused as well. He blinked twice before glancing down at our hands, and blushed heavily.

Draco immediately retracted his hand away and took a few steps away from me.

"I-I wasn't holding your hand or anything!" He stammered, but I wasn't paying attention to how flustered he was right now. I blinked again, confused at what just happened.

"Draco, what did you just say?" I asked, tilting my head to the side.

"Huh?" Draco stopped blushing, his facial expression changing into a more confused one, just like mine.

"What you just said...?" I asked again as I made hand motions for emphasis. "Just now? I didn't catch that..."

"What are you talking about, (Y/N)?" Draco scoffed, and seemed like he didn't like how I was asking too many questions out of skepticism right now. " **I didn't even say anything.** "

"That's... weird." I frowned, crossing my arms as I glanced down to the floor in doubt. "I could've sworn I heard you say something, but I couldn't make them out."

 _'Was it an auditory hallucination or something?'_ I thought to myself, holding my head as it began to throb painfully again.

"You did hit your head pretty hard." Draco sighed. "Sometimes, I can't help but worry about you, (Y/N)."

"Let's just get back to the common room." I shook my head gently and walked beside Draco, resuming our way back to the Slytherin common room.

I was still pretty out of it, and started to think whether if everything what Draco said was real or not, especially with the 'upset' part.

"If you are feeling lightheaded, you can lean on me if you want." Draco said, making me look at him with an appreciative smile.

"Thanks, Draco." I said as we continued our way without saying anything to each other.

I don't know why, but I preferred it if Draco and I are now giving the silent treatment to each other when we're alone now.

»»----- ♡ -----««

Everyone gathered up in the Great Hall as the clock ticked to 12 PM. Students from different years chatted excitedly about what they were going to do this summer while tugging on their robes and adjusting their hats in their head to make sure they wouldn't fall off.

The Great Hall seemed very grand today; banners that are going to be used to represent the house that wins the house cup, were hung up from the ceiling.

The light and flame from each candle seemed to be brighter than usual, giving the hall a much more lively and merry atmosphere.

(Y/N) and Alem were both bickering on their way to the Great Hall as they were both confused about who owns the hats that were placed in their heads.

Apparently, they were switched out when (Y/N) thought that Alem's was theirs.

"Seriously, Alem - it's just a hat! Besides, if it fits in your head, then there _shouldn't_ be any problem!" The older twin exclaimed and pulled the hat down to prevent Alem from forcefully taking it from their head.

"No. No way! If it's mine, _it's mine_! I don't want my hat to get any of your hairs, (Y/N)!" Alem had their hat in his hand while he tried to pull his hat from their head. (Y/N) shook their head as a way of prying his hands off.

There's no way they would take their hat back, especially when Alem already crumpled it under his grip like that.

"I'm too young to have any hair fall out of my head, you idiot!" (Y/N) exclaimed again, and thus, the Rosewood Twins' bickering continued up to the Slytherin table, where Draco and the other Slytherins were having their faces covered by their hands due to how embarrassing certain Slytherins were in the table.

Especially if they were going to win the house cup this year.

Though, they found it odd that the banners weren't changed into the design of their house.

Harry just got released from the hospital wing and immediately changed into his uniform to head over to the Great Hall, eager to see (Y/N) again and see if they're alright.

To his relief, they are fine. Though, the injury on their forehead made him bitter again, since he thinks that he wasn't looking after (Y/N) enough.

He wanted to come over and talk to them, but because the feast and the announcement of house cup winner is about to start, he begrudgingly sat down on the Gryffindor table, next to Ron, and across Hermione.

"I mean, honestly!" Ron sighed in annoyance. " _Who_ would even put such thing as a paralyzing potion inside an apple? How did (Y/N) even get that _thing_?"

Hermione rolled her eyes as she leaned closer towards the two, but not too close that it would make it seem like she was whispering. "Maybe Fred and George gave it to them as a prank?"

"Come on now, Hermione." Ron looked back at her with an 'are you serious?' look. "My brothers do pranks, but trust me when I say that they wouldn't put something as dangerous as that, _especially_ in something as basic as an apple."

"Really? How would you know?" Hermione cocked her eyebrow up.

"They're my brothers, Hermione." Ron sighed again, looking away from the girl to end the conversation. Harry didn't contribute anything to the conversation, and only listened.

He found it odd that he didn't know that (Y/N) was carrying something like that, but chose not to dwell on it since it doesn't concern him.

Meanwhile, in the teacher's table, Dumbledore scanned the Great Hall for a moment before glancing over to McGonagall to give her the signal that the announcing will start now.

McGonagall nodded and picked up the small golden spoon on her plate, before bringing it over to her goblet and clinking it loudly, making the students' attention gather towards the teacher's table, and to Dumbledore, who just stood up and walked over to his owl-designed podium.

The Rosewood twins stopped bickering and paid their full attention to the headmaster. (Y/N), however, took a deep breath and started to pray for themselves for one of the cringiest moments in the series.

Well, in their opinion, it is one of the cringiest moments.

 _'Oh, Jesus, take the wheel.'_ (Y/N) thought sadly to themselves before hearing the headmaster out.

"Another year gone!" Dumbledore's voice echoed around the Great Hall cheerfully, making other students smile due to how enthusiastic he was. "And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious feast."

Some students laughed and chuckled at what he said.

Dumbledore paused for a moment before continuing. "What a year it has been! Hopefully, your heads are all a little fuller than they were; you have the whole summer ahead to get them nice and empty before next year starts."

The headmaster scanned the Great Hall for a moment before taking a deep breath to continue his speech. "Now, as I understand it, the house cup here needs awarding, and the points stand thus;"

(Y/N) quietly grabbed a goblet of apple juice from their side and began to sip on it, ready to hear all the point-awarding stuff Dumbledore is about to make.

(Y/N) kind of felt bad that they were badmouthing their headmaster in their head, but hey, they couldn't help it.

"In fourth place, Gryffindor, with three hundred and twelve points." The Gryffindor table groaned sadly and angrily at how they were in last place.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked down in shame, since they knew that they played a huge part in the reason why Gryffindor has the lowest points this year.

"In third, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two points." The Hufflepuffs remained silent and indifferent about the announcement of their points.

(Y/N) glanced over to the Hufflepuff table, hopefully to stare at Cedric for a little while, since they won't be seeing each other for a few months.

They did see him,

_But he was already staring back._

"In second, Ravenclaw, with four hundred and twenty-six points." (Y/N) blushed and looked away, loudly sipping on their apple juice to regain their composure after being caught by Cedric.

They didn't look back and kept their attention to Dumbledore instead.

"And finally, in first place, Slytherin, with four hundred and seventy-two points." When Dumbledore announced that, a storm of cheering and stamping broke out in the Slytherin table.

(Y/N) could only sigh and refill their goblet with another apple juice, and Alem felt somewhat happy, though this reaction from his fellow housemates are going overboard.

Draco was about to join in on the fun, until he saw that (Y/N) was only sitting and didn't look to happy about it, which made him skeptical and keep himself in his seat.

(Y/N) didn't even want to know how many lengths the Slytherins had to take in order to regain the one hundred and fifty points that they lost from a month ago.

The older twin didn't gain points during this year for the Slytherins either, which makes it harder for (Y/N) to celebrate since they practically did nothing,

and all of that will change in a few moments anyway.

"Yes, yes, well done, Slytherin." Dumbledore congratulated the house briefly until he raised his hand, indicating that there's something else he needed to address. "However, recent events must be taken into account."

The room went very still at this, and the Slytherins, who were celebrating, stopped with their smiles fading a little.

"Ahem," coughed Dumbledore as he scanned over to the Gryffindor table, eyeing the golden trio. "I have a few last minute points to dish out. Let me see..."

"First - to Mr. Ronald Weasley..." When Ron's name came out of Dumbledore's mouth, Ron's face became pale - either from the embarrassment or from the shock.

Ron had to look over to Harry, and Hermione to confirm that Dumbledore really did call his name.

"...for the best-played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years, I award the Gryffindor house fifty points." The Gryffindor's cheers were loud and echoed around the Great Hall, that it reached over to the bewitched ceiling.

(Y/N) took another large sip to drown out all the cringe that was starting to enter their body.

They were thankful that Percy helped them recollect their thoughts, especially after seeing the older Weasley brother telling other prefects of how proud he is that Ron, his younger brother, managed to get past McGonagall's giant chess set.

"Such a precious boy. Too bad he won't be as precious when he goes to the Ministry." The older Rosewood twin muttered to themselves while taking another small sip from their goblet.

"Second, to Miss Hermione Granger..." Hermione's face became red - her brown eyes widening in surprise at the mention of her name from Dumbledore. "...for the use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award the Gryffindor house fifty points."

The brown haired Gryffindor buried her face in her arms as everyone in the Gryffindor table congratulated and clapped for Hermione.

Both Harry and (Y/N) suspected that she was crying from joy, but they couldn't really tell for sure.

"Third, to Mr. Harry Potter..." The room suddenly became deadly quiet; everyone wanted to know what Harry did. "...for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award the Gryffindor house sixty points."

The Gryffindors started to yell and cheer at the same time, knowing that the Gryffindors and the Slytherins are now tied for the house cup.

Draco, and Alem's eyebrows furrowed in skepticism, wondering why Dumbledore is giving so many points to the Gryffindors.

In the last minute too, might I add.

(Y/N) sighed again as they poured themselves another goblet of apple juice, until Alem slapped their hand away from the pitcher and told them to stop drinking so much.

(Y/N) rolled their eyes and stuck their tongue out, but complied, nonetheless.

Dumbledore raised his hand again, rendering the room silent as everyone listened to what he had to say next.

"There are all kinds of courage - it takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends, even in our darkest of times." (Y/N) frowned and glanced over to the Gryffindor table, where Neville sat sadly. He wasn't even paying attention to Dumbledore.

"I, therefore, award fourty points to Mr. Neville Longbottom." Another set of loud cheers erupted in the Great Hall, as Neville snapped out of his daze and became pale with shock as every Gryffindor near him started to hug him in piles.

Hermione, and Ron pulled Harry into a hug, overcoming with happiness as they had just won the house cup.

The trio looked over to the Slytherin table, where (Y/N) sat with Alem. Their face was deadpan, as their head was rested on the palm of their hand while their gaze was targeted towards Dumbledore.

They felt bad that (Y/N) wasn't in Gryffindor to celebrate along with them; they were just as important when the whole stone issue happened, and they consider (Y/N) as part of their group already.

 _'Huh. I thought Neville only got awarded with ten points.'_ Meanwhile, (Y/N) thought skeptically and started to question everything they knew about their first year.

Dumbledore raised his hand to stop the loud cheers of the Gryffindor, making it seem like he still has something more to say.

"There's more?" Hermione questioned, until she remembered that one of the crucial people who went to the trapdoor with them were yet to be awarded with house points.

"When one is willing to step into harm's way for justice for their friends, this also takes a great deal of bravery, regardless of the divide between those friends." Dumbledore's eyes left the Gryffindor table, and flickered them over to the Slytherin table.

He watched as (Y/N)'s face became a mixture of confused and surprise; they definitely knew what was going to happen in the next few seconds.

"Therefore, I award fourty points to Mr./Miss (Y/N) Rosewood." The room was quiet for a few seconds, until the loud cheers of the Slytherins erupted and echoed.

They were congratulating and clapping at (Y/N) for giving them fourty points and not make it seem like Slytherin had lost to the Gryffindors.

Meanwhile, (Y/N) was shocked. They hadn't felt or known the feeling of being cheered by their peers or getting recognized for what they had done, so this was really new to them.

Alem was even patting and clapping for his twin's success, to his surprise. Draco was cheering for (Y/N) - he'd known that they'd be able to make the Slytherin house proud someday.

When (Y/N) started to take all of this in, with their mouth slightly parted open, their lips curled up into the most genuine and heartwarming smile they had ever done.

Small blushes of red were tinting their cheeks, and they felt the happiest they had ever been.

Harry, Draco, Neville, Ron, Cedric, and Hermione had seen this, and seemed to have blushed due to how precious (Y/N) really is if they're smiling genuinely. This was the first time they had seen (Y/N) smile like this.

Cedric, and Hermione were the first to look away and recover from (Y/N)'s smile, with a blush still visible on their cheeks.

Of course, Snape had seen the whole thing as well, and his dark eyes seemed to have been brought back to life. The way they smiled brought the potions master back to when Lily Evans would still hang out with him, and play with him when they were younger.

Snape shook his head and removed those thoughts away from his mind, as he took a mental note that there's no use in dwelling over the past, and avoid himself from thinking and comparing (Y/N) to Lily.

"It seems that both the Gryffindor and the Slytherin house are tied for the house cup." Dumbledore nodded in approval as he scanned the Great Hall again, eyeing the students who had confused faces as to which house would win the house cup.

"Now, I am aware that we do need to have a winner for the house cup..." The headmaster paused for a moment, before smiling at the students before him. "However, it does not mean that we can't have _two winners_ at once."

(Y/N) almost spat out the apple juice that they were drinking out of their goblet. This was certainly a new scenario in this world, and they didn't know how to respond or react to that. Even the trio were shocked about this.

"I strongly believe that both houses deserve to win the house cup for their courageous and admirable performances this year." Dumbledore added. "Facing risks and danger, despite knowing that you might lose everything, all for the sake of justice and the unbreakable friendship from the students, who have done this last night, in each houses, I believe that's a _very_ wonderful thing."

The Gryffindors and the Slytherins looked at each other, unsure of what to feel about this. They have always been the opposite of each other, and have been at 'war' for god knows how long.

They haven't heard of Slytherins being friends with Gryffindors before.

Some Hufflepuffs and the Ravenclaws certainly didn't see this coming; they expected Gryffindors to overthrow the Slytherin after that huge amount of points Dumbledore just gave to them.

They almost forgotten about the other Slytherin that helped Harry face Quirrell in the trapdoor.

" **Therefore, I announce that Slytherin and Gryffindor wins the house cup!** " Dumbledore's voice was loud and clear, yet the students who had heard his announcement didn't know how to feel about two houses winning the house cup. It certainly didn't happen before, up until now.

Everyone glanced at each other in troubled mutters, until a loud, slow clap came from the Hufflepuff table.

Everyone looked over, and saw Cedric Diggory clapping his hands slowly while smiling happily as he looked over to (Y/N) with a heartwarming look.

Anyone could obviously tell that Cedric was somehow proud of (Y/N) for accomplishing something like that - getting two house rivals to win the house cup together.

(Y/N) blushed and kept their head down, flustered at how the Hufflepuff was looking at them.

Alem playfully nudged them, making (Y/N) slap their brother's forearm for embarrassing them any further.

Cedric continued clapping, until another Hufflepuff joined,

and another,

and another,

until everyone just started to clap in appreciation and happiness for the two houses.

Eventually, everyone was now smiling and looking at the Gryffindors and the Slytherins, proud that they've managed to change something beautiful this year.

Even if it's not often seen when it comes to the four houses in Hogwarts, unity is something every student wished to have.

Laughter and happy yells started to echo around the Great Hall, as Dumbledore smiled at the students.

The headmaster clapped his hands while gazing up at the banners that were hanging up in the ceiling. The empty design of the banners eventually began to change;

The left side where a column of banners were hanging, changed and dyed into red. A towering lion, that represented the house of Gryffindor, was standing proudly at the center, with golden and seemingly sparkling laces were placed on the rim of the banners.

On the right side, the banners began to dye in dark green. A white serpent slithered itself into the center of the banner, as to represent the house of Slytherin. Silver laces were also placed on the rim of the banners.

Everyone cheered happily for each other, even (Y/N), who was now standing up and hugging Alem as tightly as they could. Happiness and a small twinge of love was coursing through every nerve in their body.

They were overcome with joy.

Draco could only watch (Y/N), smiling to himself when he saw the older Rosewood twin being so happy. The happiness of his crush, is also his happiness.

McGonagall and Snape shook each other's hands, acknowledging the victory of their houses.

Filch, Sprout, and Hagrid congratulated both of the heads of the houses that won the house cup, with a smile.

The sky was clear, and the sun was blazing up in the sky as everyone in the Great Hall grabbed their hats and threw it up in the air, as a way of celebrating the end of the year.

Meanwhile, Erised leaned from a nearby pillar outside the Great Hall, looking down to the floor with a thoughtful look on their face.

Their hands were tucked on their orange hoodie, and they seem to be biting the inside of their cheeks while they were deep inside their thoughts.

The strawberry haired child began to push their hair back while smiling bitterly, and glancing over beside them, where another pillar stood.

"This could be very dangerous for (Y/N), you know?" They asked, smirking over at the familiar figure from behind the pillar. If one could watch close enough, a strand of (H/C) hair could be seen from the pillar.

The figure's face became bitter and sour, as they crossed their arms and gripped their arm tightly out of spite. "I don't care about them." They spoke in a rather adult and mature voice.

"I just want Alem to..."

Before they could even finish their sentence, they already disappeared into thin air, leaving behind a single white lily from where they once stood.

Erised blinked, ruffling their hair in frustration as they began to walk away from the entrance and to the empty corridors of the castle.

"Both of them have **always** been so selfish..." They muttered spitefully to themselves, scowling, until they also disappeared into thin air.

»»----- ♡ -----««

The feast ended, and it was now 15 PM (3 pm). Everyone was in their common room, packing up and getting ready to go back home for the summer.

Some were crying because it was their last year. Some were happily chatting with each other, and savor their last moments this year in Hogwarts.

While some are being...

"That's gross! Why do you have _my_ shirt in your drawer, (Y/N)!?" Alem shrieked while grabbing the red shirt from (Y/N)'s arms in a haste, stuffing it inside his trunk.

The other Rosewood twin suddenly became offended, and started to smack him playfully a few times.

"Stop acting like that! You're making it seem like I always dirty up any clothes I use!" (Y/N) shrieked back as they started to tear up out of embarrassment.

Draco could only sigh as the twins started to bicker once more, since he knows that he can't do anything about it.

 _'Honestly, when can I have a peaceful moment whenever I am with these two?'_ Draco thought to himself, but knew that he wouldn't even get a moment of peace when (Y/N) and Alem are with him.

"Oh shoot, we're going to be late, (Y/N)!" Alem exclaimed as he looked over to clock on the wall of their dorm room. (Y/N) winced and almost cried again, rubbing their ears in discomfort as their head started to throb in pain once more.

"Don't be so loud, Alem." They mumbled sadly. "My headache is getting worse."

"Sorry." Alem briefly apologized, his voice now lowered to comply to his twin's wish.

"But, we really should go. We should be leaving by 3:30." Alem continued, patting his trunk while going over to the corner of his bed, where Garrett, his owl, was sleeping peacefully inside his golden cage.

"Okay okay..." (Y/N) sighed, placing more clothes inside their trunk and some stuff, since they weren't done packing up just yet. "I'm almost done. You can go ahead, and wait for me by the Hogwarts Express train."

"Are you sure? Don't you want to go together?" The other twin asked worriedly. "Your headache is acting up, and I don't want you to faint on your way to the train without anyone catching you."

"I'll be fine, Alem." (Y/N) said dismissively.

Alem frowned, but didn't say anything, and trusted (Y/N)'s judgement. He nodded, tugging on his Slytherin robe as he walked out of the room.

It was now (Y/N) and Draco left in the room, making the Rosewood twin facepalm internally.

They forgot that Draco was still in the room.

"Ahem," Draco coughed out, trying to get (Y/N)'s attention. They turned their head around, wondering why Draco called them out again this time.

"I found this," The Malfoy pulled out a familiar diary that was in (Y/N)'s favorite color, and pushed it towards them while glancing away in a fluster. "under my bed. I figured it might be yours because of the stickers."

(Y/N) was shocked, as they have finally found the bloody diary they were looking for in the past few months.

They felt dumb when Draco said that it was under his bed, though they don't remember anything about dropping the diary somewhere this room.

However, they shook this thought away from their head, and took it from Draco's hand with an appreciative grin.

"Thank you, Draco! I was looking for it everywhere!" They said as they began to examine the diary.

For a diary that was stuck under a bed for months, it looks clean and untouched. Though, when (Y/N) flipped the diary where the lock was, the lock seemed to have a few dents on it.

**_Almost as if someone was trying to pry it open._ **

(Y/N) hummed and thought that Draco probably cleaned it for them, before tossing it inside their backpack. "Honestly, thank you for finding it, Draco."

"S-Stop thanking me a lot." His face scrunched up in discomfort, yet a small blush of embarrassment was tinting his pale cheeks. "It doesn't feel right, especially coming from you."

"The least you can say is 'welcome', you know?" They chuckled, and didn't say anything else when Draco went silent.

Once (Y/N) zipped their backpack close and gently slammed their trunk shut, they push their hair back with their fingers and looked over to the Malfoy, who was now wrapping his Slytherin scarf around his neck.

"I'm heading out now, Draco." They said. "Do you want to come with?"

Draco was surprised at their question, and shakily shook his head sideways. "N-No, I still have..." He paused for a moment, thinking what his next words should be. "Some things I need to take care of."

"Oh," (Y/N) blinked, noticing Draco's sudden change of behavior, before shrugging and ignoring it in the next second. "Okay then... I'll see you at the train."

"Ah, before you leave," Draco hastily called out to the twin, who was about to open the door. (Y/N) turned around with a hum of curiosity escaping their lips.

"Could you... could you wear the necklace I gave you **at all times** this summer?" Draco asked while fiddling with his fingers. (Y/N) thought that it was an odd request, but couldn't reject him, since those necklaces are a pair after all.

"Sure, why not." They said, nonchalantly. Draco smiled at this, waving at them as they waved back and left the room without saying anything else.

He stood idly in his spot for a few seconds before crashing down onto his bed, covering his eyes with his arms with a smile of satisfaction.

" **At least, I'll know where you are at all times when we're not together this summer.** "

»»----- ♡ -----««

I stretch my arms and skipped happily down the stairs and into the Slytherin common room.

Many Slytherins were still gathered up here, hugging and chatting at each other. I couldn't care less about any of them, until a familiar dark haired girl walked over to me.

"Rosewood," Pansy called out my name, giving my full attention towards her with a deadpan look.

"Um-" I began to scratch my head, not knowing what to say since I don't want to deal with any of her bullshit right now.

"I know what you're thinking, so don't judge me right away." She spoke up first, sighing in annoyance. Well, that certainly caught me off guard. "I'm only here to say something, that's all."

"Well, what is it?" I tilted my head to the side, making sure that my tone of voice isn't coming off as rude to her.

Pansy's face became flushed red, as she glanced down to the floor to avoid my gaze.

"Um... I-" Pansy began to stutter. "Th...T-Tha...nk..." She continued to stutter, and I absolutely have no clue what she's trying to say.

All I can do is stand there, and look at her in the most confused face I can do.

"W-What I meant to say was...!" She exclaimed and finally looked at me, which caught me off guard once again. "I'll see you next school year!"

I blinked, and stayed silent for a while. I don't really know what or how to respond to that.

Since when was Pansy even nice to me, or told me something like that?

I was about to open my mouth to speak, until she started to make unintelligible noises and waving her hands around in embarrassment.

"G-Goodbye!" She ran off before I can even say anything.

I blinked again, and scratched my head in confusion.

What the hell was that all about?

I couldn't do anything but shrug it off. However, I took note of how 'nice' Pansy was to me today, which is a new thing. I thought she was going to insult and make fun of me again for the next five minutes.

I was about to get out of the common room, squeezing myself between some students who were blocking the way, until two people were standing right in front of the entrance.

I groaned and walked over to the students, poking one of their shoulders.

"Um," I called out for their attention, the girl was the first to turn around and look at me. "Could you please walk away from the-"

I stopped mid-sentence when I suddenly noticed how her face scrunched up in pure terror, as if she was completely terrified of me, and like I was a monster of some sort.

She brought her hands up to the boy, slapping his arm and grabbed it tightly.

"I-It's..." She choked out, and the boy seemed to have the same expression as well when he landed his eyes on me.

I tilted my head to the side, now confused and a little bit pissed as well.

"I don't know if I'm allowed to say this, but don't you think it's quite rude to look at someone like that?" I asked, toning down the hostility in my voice. They flinched, shaking and glancing away from me.

Good lord, what the fuck did I do? Is my face really that ugly and monstrous?

They look like they've been thrown around the room a couple of times; their hair was a mess, huge dark bags were under their eyes, and their uniform and robes weren't even worn properly.

If they weren't looking at me like I'm a demigorgon, or something, I would've assumed that they fucked in one of their dorm rooms and didn't want anyone else to know.

"P-Please d-do-don't tell..." She stuttered and immediately covered her mouth, like she just stopped herself in time to not say anything else up until that point.

"Miss, if you're having problems in general, please do get some help from Madam Pomfrey or Professor Snape." I said, ruffling my hair in frustration at this point. I don't know why I'm getting so impatient today.

Maybe it's because of my headache?

"You two honestly look like you've been taking way too many drugs in one day." I added.

"I..." The boy spoke up, covering his mouth as well as flurries of cold sweat started to invade his forehead. "I think I'm going to be sick."

The boy, then, dashed out of my sight with the girl rushing over towards him as well.

I had to take a moment to recollect myself after what just happened, while wondering if they simply mistook me for someone else.

I shook away any thoughts that I have for Pansy and those two weird upperclassmen.

I don't want to give myself anymore stress, and my headache is getting more and more painful as time passes by.

When I left the common room, I started to walk over to where the Hogwarts Express would be in the vicinity of the castle dazedly.

I didn't even bother to pay attention to any of the students as I walked towards my destination.

»»----- ♡ -----««

As everyone gathered around the platform, (Y/N) had to sit out in one of the nearby benches while breathing softly and slowly, while trying to drown out all the noises to calm their headache.

Alem was sitting right beside (Y/N), and offered to wrap up his scarf on them so they wouldn't feel too cold.

(Y/N) declined his offer, however, and kept huddling themselves with their oversized robe.

Harry was tip-toeing and scanning the crowd for any sign of (Y/N), and when he saw them sitting on a bench with a pained look on their face, with their brother beside them.

He suddenly became worried and walked over to them, squeezing past the students who were minding their own business.

"(Y/N), are you alright?" Harry asked, worriedly. (Y/N) looked up slowly, smiling softly at the raven haired Gryffindor and giving him a small wave of greetings.

"Hey, Harry..." They said. "I'm fine... I just need a little bit of some rest; I think my headache is getting worse and worse by the minute."

Even their voice was groggy and tired when they said this, which only made Harry's worry worsen.

Alem had to cough and interrupt the conversation, eyeing the Gryffindor with a hard glare.

It seems like he still hasn't forgiven Harry for what he had indirectly done to his twin.

Harry glared back, of course.

Alem may be their brother, but Harry couldn't care less about anyone else besides (Y/N).

"Alem, don't be rude." (Y/N) groaned with their eyes closed, not bothering to open their eyes since they just wanted to sleep. However, they know that they can't if they have a mild concussion.

The (H/C) haired boy stood down and lessened their glare towards Harry. He only adjusted himself in his seat and looked away, waiting for the signal for everyone to get on board.

"Come sit with us in the train later, (Y/N)." Harry smiled, and said that without any hesitation. Alem silently choked on his spit and looked at the Gryffindor with a look of disbelief on his face.

He was shocked because of how slightly inconsiderate Harry is; did he not hear what (Y/N) just said about needing to rest?

Knowing how the trio is, it's more likely that they'll try to pester and try to join (Y/N) on their conversation - how could they be able to rest with that?

Alem was about to speak up, until (Y/N) coughed and looked up to Harry apologetically.

"I'm sorry, Harry, but I think I should stay with Alem for now." They said, as Harry's smile faded for a while. "I'll be seeing you off in King's Cross once we get off of the train, though. So don't worry."

Harry didn't say anything for a few seconds, before pulling up a small forced smile and eyeing Alem in the corner of his green eyes, who seems to be sighing in relief because of how (Y/N) responded.

"Oh, that's okay." Harry slightly tilted his head to the side, still retaining the smile on his lips. "I do hope you'll feel better once we get off of the train."

(Y/N) nodded and pulled up a thumbs up. "Thanks, Harry. Very cool." They laughed, attempting to replicate PewDiePie's accent whenever he says 'very cool'.

Both Alem and Harry thought it was silly, but didn't say anything about it.

The raven haired boy waved (Y/N) goodbye, before walking around to find Hermione and Ron.

He still felt pissed that Alem was trying to keep him away from them, even though it was for a good reason.

Meanwhile, (Y/N) was just groaning and wanted to fall asleep right then and there, until Alem playfully nudged their shoulder gently.

"What?" They groaned again, shuffling in their seat and trying to cover themselves more with their robe as a strong wind passed by.

"Should I bring Cedric over here to make you feel better?" Alem asked while wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

(Y/N) rolled their eyes while blushing softly, as they placed their hand on Alem's face and pushed him away form them.

"Shut up, bro." They muttered shyly, but still tried to scan the crowd for any signs of the Hufflepuff boy. Alem, obviously, noticed this, and started to nudge them again.

" _But I can't help falling in love with you~_ " Alem sang in a weird, dramatic voice. A laugh eventually escaped his lips as (Y/N) groaned again, trying to smack Alem with their hand.

"Honestly, Alem!" They exclaim, while their brother is just avoiding any smack he might get from his twin.

It wasn't long until Hagrid announced that the train would now leave, and every student should now enter the train.

As students filed to enter the train, Alem held (Y/N) close to him, just in case his twin will fall off and get lost in the sea of Hogwarts students.

The twins had to search the train for a while, until they managed to find an empty train compartment.

Alem slid the door open, and gently let (Y/N) in first so they would be able to rest and sit down.

As his twin started to get comfortable on their seat, Alem slides the door close and takes a seat next to them.

"Phew," He huffed out, looking out into the window and watched as the surroundings outside the window start to move, indicating that the train is now ready to take them back to King's Cross Station.

Alem suddenly started to remember the day they first went to Hogwarts and took the train;

(Y/N) looked so clueless and lost in the middle of it all. They didn't know anything, or what they were even doing here in the first place.

When asked about things they should already know, they didn't know the answer to them.

Alem is still convinced that (Y/N) isn't what he thinks they are, and that there is something more to them. However, he continues to treat them like before - like they are still twins.

Before he could get deeper inside his thoughts, he felt a hand gripping his Slytherin robe tightly. Alem looked at (Y/N), who was leaning on his shoulder, with their eyes half-lidded and tired.

"Thank you for always being there for me." (Y/N) breathed out before turning to the window to look out into the moving terrains to distract themselves, and to not fall asleep.

Alem didn't say anything, but smile as he pulled out another The Neverland's Promise book to read and kill some time.

_'In the end, they are still my dear twin brother/sister, after all.'_

»»----- ♡ -----««

As the countryside began to get greener and tidier, it didn't take long enough for the Hogwarts Express to reach the King's Cross Station.

(Y/N) had almost fallen asleep during the whole ride, but luckily, Alem kept asking them if they're still awake every five minutes or so.

(Y/N) stood up from their seat and took off their Slytherin robe, revealing their casual clothes that they've worn underneath;

It was a simple black shirt with black jogging pants. They didn't really think too much of what to wear, since they were pretty much out of it when they were choosing clothes.

Alem did the same and swung his robe over his shoulder. He beckoned for his twin to hand over their robe so he could put them away as soon as they go outside.

(Y/N) complied, gently excusing Alem to step away from the compartment door so they would be able to get out first.

Alem wanted to stay in the compartment for a while, and made sure that it was tidy and clean before he left. He didn't want to cause any trouble for the staff in the train, after all.

Most of the students were already out of the train, so the train wasn't too crowded. The older twin waited outside, casting their gaze downwards to distract themselves for a while.

Once Alem finished checking, he went outside and nodded to (Y/N), indicating that he was ready to go.

When the two went outside the train, multitude of students were lining up to the ticket barrier with some old guard letting them out by threes or fours, so the muggles wouldn't be skeptical or get overwhelmed by the amount of people suddenly popping out of a wall.

Alem keeps (Y/N) and himself from a distance, so he wouldn't be able to lose his twin.

They aren't feeling well, after all. It took everyone a while, but they all got out safely without attracting any attention.

Alem looked around for any sign of their parents. Meanwhile, (Y/N) was getting pretty nervous about having to meet their parents in this world for the first time.

How would they even react?

The boy was about to pout sadly, thinking that their parents are not here yet, until large hands scooped Alem up from the ground.

"There's my little trooper!" A loud, masculine voice laughed as he carried Alem and ruffled his (H/C) colored hair with a grin. "Look at you; you've gotten taller while staying at Hogwarts, haven't you!?"

"D-Dad, stop!" Alem was embarrassed since he was getting some attention, yet happy that he was able to see his parents after a year.

(Y/N) looked up in both awe and nervousness at the (H/C) haired man. Their headache almost disappeared.

There's no denying that both of their hair color and their hair behaves came from their father. It's just overwhelming to (Y/N), seeing him this close.

Especially when (Y/N) never had a good relationship with their father in the real world.

"Oh, and look who it is!" Mr. Rosewood glanced down at the nervous and shocked (Y/N). His smile faded when he saw the bandage that was on his child's forehead.

He gently placed Alem down to the ground and leaned closer to (Y/N) in worry.

"(Y/N), what happened to your head?" He frowned, examining the patch of small dried blood on the center of the bandage.

(Y/N), who didn't like how close he was on their face, immediately skipped a few steps away.

"I-It's nothing, um..." They paused, staring right at their 'father"s blue eyes. They definitely held a look of confusion and worry at the same time.

I mean, no parent would be deadpan after knowing that their child just got into a head injury at school.

"...d-dad." The name rolled off of (Y/N)'s tongue in a weird way. They haven't called or didn't even bring themselves to call their father 'dad' before.

So, this was a foreign, yet oddly satisfying moment for the older twin.

Mr. Rosewood took notice of how uncomfortable (Y/N) was and sighed, knowing that there's nothing he could do. He stood up and looked down at his children with his hands placed on his hips.

"Well, if you say so, (Y/N)." He said with a smile. "If you do feel strange, tell me right away, okay?"

"O-Okay..." (Y/N) nodded, smiling nervously as they glanced away from their father.

They didn't know how to react to someone, who is supposed to be their father, treating them nicely like this.

"Oh my goodness, they're already here?" A feminine yet mature voice caused the three Rosewoods to perk their ears and look up to see the source of the voice.

(Y/N) felt even more awkward when they realized that that was their mother. Alem blinked and watched as his twin kept having these weird nervous expressions, before grabbing their hand tightly to reassure them.

The boy nodded, and (Y/N) paused for a moment before smiling appreciatively at their twin.

"Honey, why do you always take so long in the toilet?" Mr. Rosewood asked as Mrs. Rosewood stopped in front of them.

She rolled her eyes, and playfully smacked her husband's arm for asking such an embarrassing question.

"Lawrence, don't ever ask a lady something like that again." Mrs. Rosewood sighed before turning to her children, smiling happily at them.

"Merlin, it's only been a few months, and you two have already changed so much!" She leaned down and planted a kiss on Alem's cheek, grinning and arranging his messy (H/C) hair.

"I've missed you, sweetie." She said. "You've grown taller!"

"Thanks, mum." Alem chuckled, smiling back at his mother as she turned over to (Y/N), who started to fiddle with their fingers.

"What are you standing over there for, (Y/N)?" Mrs. Rosewood giggled as she opened her arms. "Give your mum a hug, come on!"

(Y/N) blushed before slowly walking over towards Mrs. Rosewood, and gently embracing them with their small arms wrapped around her neck.

"You're being so shy today, (Y/N)." She said while embracing the older twin tightly. "I figured it's because we haven't seen each other in so long, but still, this is a first!"

(Y/N) didn't know what to say, so they only became silent while taking in their mother's hug. It was warm and full of love, something that they were overwhelmed by.

She was the first to retract away from the hug, and her gentle face soon turned into a stern and serious one.

"Now, tell me what happened to you and your head, (Y/N)." Mrs. Rosewood's strictness took the older twin in surprise, since that was a huge mood flip from 0-100.

"Mum, let's discuss this when we're on our way home." Alem sighed, crossing his arms as Mr. Rosewood took their robes and examined them, staring at the embroidered Slytherin crest on the robe's chest.

"Well, you're right, sweetie." Mrs. Rosewood sighed as she stood up and smiled at her child. "Tell me everything that happened to your first year when we're going out to eat, alright?"

"Y-Yes, mum." (Y/N) responded, still looking away from her. Mrs. Rosewood shook her head and leaned back to (Y/N), planting a kiss on their cheek before retracting away once more.

"I've missed you too, (Y/N)." She said, as the older twin's blush became more red. Mostly from nervousness, and from the fact that they're about to tear up and cry.

They don't know why, though; they're just not used to being treated like this.

"I always thought that the Slytherin robes looked well," Mr. Rosewood suddenly said, while scrunching his face at (Y/N)'s oversized robe. "But, isn't this a bit too big for you, Alem?"

"Well, I do agree that it is too big, but it's not mine, dad." Alem replied to his father. "That's (Y/N)'s." He added.

"(Y/N)'s!?" Mr. Rosewood exclaimed in disbelief, his jaw basically dropping at how big it was for his oldest child. "There's no way that this belongs to either of you two; where did you pick this up?"

"I don't... recall having a different robe, d-dad..." (Y/N) finally spoke up, but stuttered at their words. "I mean, that robe has always been with me ever since I was sorted in Slytherin."

"That's odd." Mr. Rosewood responded to their reply, still examining their robe skeptically. Mrs. Rosewood walked beside her husband, examining it as well.

Needless to say, she wasn't pleased with how big it was either.

"Well, I assume they'll give you different robes next year, so try to tell Professor Snape if your robe is still big next time." Mrs. Rosewood gently took (Y/N)'s robe from her husband, observing it for a bit before slinging it over her shoulder.

"Yes, mum." (Y/N) nodded, now getting used to how to treat their new parents in this world.

"Before we leave, you two should bid your friends goodbye first." Mrs. Rosewood said, smiling down at her children. The twins looked at each other, as Alem scratched his head awkwardly.

"But, mum," He coughed. "I don't have any friends."

Mrs. Rosewood was speechless as she stared at her son in surprise. When (Y/N) said that they were making friends, she assumed that Alem was making friends too.

What on earth was he doing during his first year?

"Alem, we both have an undying love for books," Mr. Rosewood was the first to speak up. "But you _really_ should start talking to people more often."

Alem scoffed playfully, since he knew that his father was joking. Mrs. Rosewood sighed and looked over to her oldest child apologetically.

"Sweetie, could you bring Alem with you?" She asked. "I do recall that you're friends with Potter and Mr. Weasley's youngest son; do say goodbye to them before they're gone."

"Potter? As in, _the_ Harry Potter?" Mr. Rosewood blinked in surprise, while (Y/N) only nodded and confirmed their father's question.

"That's honestly brilliant, (Y/N)." He complimented while ruffling (Y/N)'s hair. "I never thought you'd be friends with someone that famous."

"Honestly, I never thought I'd be friends with him too." They replied, suddenly remembering how disastrous their first impression was on Harry.

If it wasn't for Hermione, Harry would still think of them as a weirdo.

"Well, go on, sweetie." Mrs. Rosewood smiled. "We still have a few minutes before Wallace comes over to join us in our family dinner."

(Y/N) nodded again, glancing over at Alem to see if he doesn't have any objections. When he showed that he has none, the twins started to scan the platform for any signs of Harry, Ron, Hermione, or any of their friends, really.

»»----- ♡ -----««

I sighed when I was finally a few feet away from my parents in this world. Everything was so new, and it felt some overwhelming.

I didn't know how to react, especially when I never had parents who took care of me like that before.

"You can rest easy, (Y/N)." Alem spoke up from behind me, making me turn around to look at him. "They're the best parents anyone could ever ask for." He said, smiling. I stare at him for a moment, before smiling back and nodding back at him.

"Yeah, I can see that." I said while bringing my eyes forward once more to try and look for Harry and the others.

If I remember correctly, they should be somewhere near the ticket barrier, since Mrs. Weasley and Ginny were already there waiting for them.

Once I got closer to the barrier, my suspicions were correct as I saw the trio gathered around Mrs. Weasley, Ginny, with the Dursley's right behind them.

_Oh shit, I forgot that the_ _Dursleys_ _were also here._

Nonetheless, I put up a smile as I waved my hand to catch their attention. "Harry!" I called out, making the Gryffindor turn around. He smiled widely when he saw me, and waved back.

The Weasleys, Hermione, and the Dursleys, all turned their heads towards me. Though, the Dursleys all had terrified and uncomfortable look on their faces, especially Petunia.

When I finally reached them, Harry was the first to greet me.

"I thought you already went ahead, (Y/N)." He said. "You weren't around the platform when I got out."

Harry laughed, but for some reason, I couldn't help but think there was something more... meaningful in what he just said right there. I just couldn't put my finger on it.

"I wouldn't back out on a promise, Harry." I replied. It seems like it made him happy, which was good.

"Oh, you must be (Y/N) and Alem Rosewood!" Molly piped in on the conversation with her usual sweet and warm tone.

It was my first time speaking to Molly, so I need to make a good first impression.

"Aurelia's told me all about you!" She walks closer to us and pulled Alem and I into a hug. "Quite the troublemakers, I've heard!" Molly said as she retracted from the hug and examined us.

"Oh dear, are you okay?" She asked while eyeing my forehead. "Your injury isn't giving you a hard time, is it?"

"Oh, n-no..." I laughed awkwardly. "It's nothing, Mrs. Weasley, and nice to meet you as well!"

"Nice to meet you too, Mrs. Weasley." Alem said from behind me. Molly nodded in approval and gently walked back from us, and back to where little Ginny is. I looked over the female redhead and gave her a friendly wave.

Ginny waved back, smiling happily before looking back at Harry in admiration. I couldn't help but swoon.

In about five years, Hinny will officially be canon, and I honestly can't wait for that to happen.

"You must come and stay this summer," Ron said. "all three of you - I'll send you and owl." He, then, turned over to Molly for her approval. "Would that be alright, mum?"

"Yes, of course!" Molly said in a gasp, almost as if she was offended that Ron even had to ask that question. "They'll always be welcome in our home." She sent all of us a heartwarming smile.

I turned over to Harry. "I'll come visit you this summer - expect me to..." My words trailed off, as I started to remember how Dobby would intercept any letters that would get sent to Harry this summer.

"Well, I'll just visit you if I can." I chuckled, but Harry seemed to be unsure about this.

"I wish it would be _that_ easy, (Y/N)." He said, nodding over to the Dursleys, who were starting to get sour at the fact that Harry was taking too long.

"Hmm..." I hummed thoughtfully before walking over to the Dursleys, while pulling off the nicest smile I can muster for this family.

I could hear Harry and Alem whisper-yelling at me to stop at what I'm about to do. Vernon was the first to react to me getting close to them, and he already seemed to be so cautious.

Petunia was very skeptical, but Dudley only seemed to be staring right back at me. Almost as if he was in a trance.

"Good afternoon. You must be Harry's family." I bowed down to show them some respect. Though I think they deserved none at all for treating Harry like a slave for eleven years. "My name is (Y/N) Rosewood, a friend of Harry's. Very nice to meet you...?"

My words trailed off, as I waited for Vernon, or any one of them to introduce themselves to me. "I've no intention of giving a wizard/witch my name." Vernon said spitefully. I could only look back at him in shock, while I was internally trying to hold myself back from strangling him.

I laughed nervously, keeping my cool. I need to give them a good impression if I want them to let me visit Harry this summer.

"Well, that is understandable, sir." I responded. "Though, I think it would be wise if you don't judge someone just because they're a wizard/witch."

Vernon scoffed, rolling his eyes at me. "You lot are all the same, no?" He said. "You may be more decent-looking than your friends over there, but I won't fall for your underhanded tricks."

_Did this bitch really just-_

I was on the verge of snapping and slapping this purple-faced eggplant to the train tracks. I don't give a shit if he dies right then and there. I swear to fucking god, I-

"I'm Dudley." I snapped out of my murderous thoughts, and looked over to Dudley, who was widely smiling at me with his chubby face.

"Nice to meet you, (Y/N)!" He added, walking around his parents and extending his large hand out.

Salazar, why can I see reflective lights from the sweat that formed in his large hands?

Nonetheless, I shook his hand hesitatingly. I had to prevent myself from openly cringing when my hand came in contact with wet, sticky sweat from his hands.

The handshake lasted for about two seconds because I quickly retracted my hand away.

"N-Nice to meet you too, Dudley." I said, making him smile even more. When he was walking away, I discreetly placed the hand that I used to shake his hand behind my back, and started to wipe it on my jogging pants.

Vernon and Petunia looked like they've seen a ghost. They probably were surprise surprised that their son just walked up to a wizard/witch like me, without any hesitation.

They were speechless, until Petunia grabbed her chubby son's hand. "L-Let's get to the car, Duddykins." She said, eyeing me with an indescribable look.

Dudley pouted, but turned around and waved me goodbye with a smile on his faces. I waved back, nervously.

Although, it's quite clear that I didn't want to interact with him anymore.

Goddamn it, (Y/N), why do you always bring the worst shit when you're interacting with people?

"Y-You..." Vernon started to get red, though I didn't understand what he was so angry for. The grip that he held on his car keys were so tight, until he turned away and marched to where Petunia and Dudley went.

"Come on, boy! We haven't got all day!" He yelled towards Harry, who was now clicking his tongue in annoyance by the time I came back to them.

"(Y/N), they didn't say anything bad to you, did they?" Harry asked, fuming in anger. "I've seen the way Vernon was looking at you."

"Eh, used to it, Harry." I shrugged it off and waved my hands around. "Your uncle acting like that is understandable, but pretty harsh and mean." I added, but Harry only seemed to get more angry.

**"They shouldn't say such things to someone like you."**

His voice was slow, and he was speaking through his seething teeth. Alem, whom I forgotten already, and I looked at each other skeptically.

"Well, I'll be seeing you again this summer, so let's just hope he won't be as cranky as he is today, the next time I see him again." I said as I looked away from my brother, and back to Harry.

"Really?" He asked.

"Really." I nodded.

" **Promise?** " Harry's look was intense, and I think he remembered when I said that I would never back down from promises from earlier.

I sigh and nodded once more, smiling at the raven haired Gryffindor. "Promise."

This seemed to have satisfied Harry, as he leaned closer to me and pulled me in for a tight hug. I chuckle and hugged back, wrapping my arms around his waist.

It took five good seconds, before I retracted, since I felt like Harry didn't want to let me go.

I take one last look at Harry's face before patting him. "See you, Potter." I said.

"See you, Rosewood." He nodded at me as he started to walk away and waved the rest of us goodbye. It was now only the Weasleys, Hermione, and I.

"My parents are waiting near the entrance of the station, so I should be heading there now." Hermione said, smiling up at Molly, Ron, and me. "I'll be sending letters, so make sure to read them."

"Of course we will, Mione." I laughed, pulling Hermione in for a hug. I think she didn't expect me to do that because I heard a small yelp escape her lips when I hugged her.

When I pulled away, she was blushing softly.

"I'll see you later, Hermione." Ron nodded at the brown haired girl, to which Hermione nodded back in acknowledgement.

"I'll see you next time, Mrs. Weasley." Hermione looked up to Molly, and down to Ginny. "and I'll see you next year, Ginny."

Little Ginny giggled and nodded happily at her soon-to-be school mate. Hermione flashed us one final smile before going off on her own as well.

I turned towards the Weasleys, scratching my head as I held Alem's hand. "Well, I should be going now too, Mrs. Weasley." I said, then turned to Ron.

"Expect me to send you letters as well, Ronald." I smirk playfully at the redhead, to which he rolled his eyes on.

"Of course, you would." Ron said, smirking back. "You won't stop thinking about me during the summer, after all."

"Hoho, how bold of you to say that, Weasley." I said but snapped my fingers at him. "But hey, that was smooth, so I'll give you a pass."

Alem's grip on my hand started to get tight, making me turn to look at him. His face was scrunched up in discomfort - I guess he doesn't appreciate me talking to someone like that.

Geez, how overprotective can you be?

"I'll be seeing you next year, Ginny." I turned towards the only daughter of the Weasley family, who smiled and nodded at me.

"Yeah! I can't wait to be friends with you at school, (Y/N)!" Ginny laughed. "You're awesome!"

"You flatter." I chuckle and then turned to give them one last smile, before waving them goodbye while taking Alem by the hand.

"Goodbye, (Y/N) and Alem!" The Weasleys called out from a distance. I figured that Fred, George, and Percy weren't there yet, so they were going to wait in that spot for a while.

As we were about to walk back to where our parents were, Alem suddenly took the lead, pulling me from the crowd gently, as if he was taking me into a new place I've never known before.

"Let's go home, (Y/N)." He said, looking back at me, smiling happily.

Something in my chest fluttered, and I was met by the foreign feeling of acceptance and warmth. The feelings that died with me back when my mother left me all alone.

**It started to bloom again.**

I smile back as I started to wish that I wouldn't have to leave this place. The only place that would've able to give me the life that I've always wanted. The feelings I've always wanted to feel,

and the love that I've always wanted to receive.

"...Let's!" I replied, ready to take on the new adventures that this world is going to give me; even if it's hard or tough at times.

Though, I wished that I should've just stopped right then and there.

Because what happens from now on,

**_Is only the beginning of something so horrible._ **

**»»----- ♡ -----««**

_**erised: year one** _

_**e n d** _

**»»----- ♡ -----««**

**A/N:**

**hi please dont kill me for updating after three months**

**so hey, this chapter reached over 30,149 words, which is a surprise????**

**i thought it was only going to reach over 25k, but i miscalculated lmao**

**anyways, i hope you did enjoy the last chapter of the first year! im super drained, I've been writing for five whole hours and its 5 am here lmao**

**but hey, i did tell you guys that there will be no more delays and i really will update it today.**

**so here you go**

**I'll be posting extras and the epilogue soon before going to the second year.**

**I'll be taking a small break before I start year two, though. I also need to plan out more stuff so when i'll be writing them, I won't have a hard time.**

**By the way, that jumbled messed up words in this chapter during reader and Draco's dialogue?**

**It actually has... Something in them, and a little bit of spoiler??? I guess?**

**I already planned everything out for this book so I can't help it lmao**

**If you did manage to decode it, please do me a** **favor** **and not share it, i guess??? I mean, do it if you want to, but don't share it if you don't feel like it ;;**

**idk lmao**

**so yeA??? I'll also feature every single fanarts I've gotten in the first year in the extras so keep an eye out for that-**

**Speaking of** **fanarts** **, if you have one, do share it to me via** **gmail** **or tag me in your art book! My** **gmail** **is right on my wattpad bio, so yea!**

**thank you for reading and I'll see you guys again in the next three months lmao**

**I need sleep im so tIRED**


	21. 「Before It Begins II」

**_WARNING_ **

_This is the point of the story where things start to take more of a dark turn, and it gets worse as the years in the story go by._

_Same warnings apply - this story contains dark and mature content, such as; **abuse** , **sexual harassment** , **emotional manipulation** , **murder**. This story also contains a lot of swearing, so if you don't like seeing the Reader cuss, at least, once in every chapter of the story, then this fan fiction is not for you. _

_Some characters are also out of character to portray the yandere personality that this fanfiction was intended to have. If you don't want to ruin your view of any of the Harry Potter characters, then this fanfiction is not for you. I've literally had readers messaging me and telling me that I kind of ruined their views of the Harry Potter characters because they're yandere in this story._

_Lastly, this is an extremely slow-burn story, in a sense where scenes don't follow the original Harry Potter timeline and I add my own scenes in them to make sure that development between the Reader and the other characters in the story are moving well. Aside from the yanderes, the side characters take a huge time to warm up to the Reader, and I do my best to try and make the Reader have a connection with them so they won't seem like a third wheel._

_I'm not a very good author, so this kind of writing might backfire, so suggestions and ideas between the characters will really help me._

_Now that you've gotten past the warnings, I do hope you enjoy the year two!_

**»»————- ♡ ————-««**

Solitude. 

Being alone for an extended amount of time would be a bliss for some people, since no one would stop you, judge you, or maybe even tell you what to do. 

The best part of it all, was that you're left alone in your thoughts to think about some things you never took seriously. You reflect, or either have an existential crisis.

However, for some, this would lead to them being more vulnerable to negative emotions and dislike being alone. 

They're left to their own dark thoughts, and start to do things that one does in secret when they're alone; cry helplessly, harm themselves.

For the black haired boy, who's laying on the middle of a dark empty space, solitude is what he's been living in for almost thirty years. 

Time has stopped in his reality, and he never grows out of his seventeen year old face.

Yet, despite being only a teenager, his mind was already that of a wise, intelligent man in his fifties. 

He had the seemingly endless knowledge, the power that no other wizard can easily obtain, and the charm that can woo thousands of witches when he walks by. 

For him, power was everything. It can be from strength or authority. You'll be kicked down if you're not powerful enough to step on everyone to reach your goal, and you'll never be listened or be taken seriously if your authority is that of a commoner. 

The boy gained them at seventeen, and even though his magic power was not that comparable to the greatest wizard of all time just yet, he was already the strongest among the students,

both in strength and authority.

However, this is exactly what makes other people fear him; his control over his peers were undeniably strong. Everyone was wrapped around his finger, and no one can seem to deny him from his wishes. 

That is, until he was awaken from his slumber inside the dark abyss that he was trapped in. Scribbling noises can be heard from above, and the words that the person was scribbling suddenly appeared into his mind. 

He smirked, as his red eyes gently opened and glimmered in the darkness. The old Slytherin prince awoke, and his plans of setting himself free from the chains of his diary was starting.

Though, if only he knew, that who he was dealing with was much more complicated than the usually cocky Slytherins he was "friends" with. 

They wouldn't cave in,  
They wouldn't reveal anything,  
They weren't affected by his charming words,

The old Slytherin prince was getting restless against the Slytherin outsider. His true nature was slowly seeping through the pages of his diary - desperation and aggression becoming more visible with his messy and rushed handwriting appearing on the blank pages.

He had never felt extreme frustration against someone before, and the sarcastic remarks that the Rosewood twin kept throwing towards him only angered him further.

Yet it was exactly their knowledge of the world they're in, and the unnatural power that grows deep inside their soul as they grow older, that made the young dark lord want to make them succumb to his grasp.

Tom Marvolo Riddle forcefully invading (Y/N)'s thoughts was something he didn't want to do,

But once you start to pique the interest of the young dark lord, you might as well start resetting your life,

because try as you might, he'll always find a way to keep you close to him until you allow yourself to obey him,

_and be rightfully his._

**»»————- ♡ ————-««**

**y e a r**  
**t w o**

**B E G I N**


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